Town/Village of Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006
DRAFT
V A K R A P
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TU IN ST MA R Y V A R I S D D U R G B Y E M R R U L U D B O X C U D
A C M Y INE HE R D
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I L A G N H DS A V R V A R T A I D S D A O N
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January 2007
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Comprehensive Plan Summary
Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Chapter 4: Plan Concepts and Future Land Use Plan
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Comprehensive Plan Summary
Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
2.1 Changes since the 1988 Update 2-1 2.2 Previous Plans 2-3 2.3 The Planning Process 2-3 2.4 Development History 2-3 2.5 Context: The Region and Town 2-4 2.5.1 The Region – A Region at Risk 2-6 2.5.2 Westchester County Planning Strategies – Patterns for Westchester 2-6 2.6 Demographics 2-8 2.6.1 Population 2-8 2.6.2 Housing stock 2-9 2.7 Planning Concerns: Development Controls 2-12 2.7.1 Land Use 2-12 2.7.2 Town Development Trends 2-14 2.7.3 Neighborhoods 2-17 2.7.4 Zoning 2-19 2.7.5 Development Controls 2-22 2.8 Transportation and Parking 2-25 2.8.1 Hierarchy of Roadways 2-25 2.8.2 Other Transportation 2-28 2.8.3 Planning Concerns: Circulation and Parking Controls 2-32 2.9 Community Facilities, Services, and Infrastructure 2-34 2.9.1 Emergency Services 2-34 2.9.2 Education 2-36 2.9.3 Water, Sewer and Stormwater Management 2-38 2.10 Natural Environment 2-41 2.11 Open Space and Recreation 2-45 2.11.1 Open Space and Recreation Plan 2-46 2.11.2 Private Recreation 2-48
Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
3.1 Harrison Central Business District 3-1 3.2 Downtown Harrison and Southern Harrison 3-17 3.2.1 Downtown Harrison 3-17 3.2.2 Southern Harrison 3-20 3.3 West Harrison: Silver Lake and Park Lane 3-25 3.4 Purchase and the Platinum Mile 3-35 3.4.1 Purchase 3-35 3.4.2 Platinum Mile 3-46
Chapter 4: Plan Concepts and Future Land Use Plan
4.1 Plan Concepts 4-1 4.1.1 Town-wide Concepts 4-1 4.1.2 Downtown Central Business District Concepts 4-2 4.1.3 Downtown Harrison Concepts 4-2 4.1.4 West Harrison Concepts 4-2 4.1.5 Purchase and Platinum Mile Concepts 4-3 4.2 Future Land Use Plan 4-3 4.3 Future Land Use Plan Elements 4-4 4.4 Summary of Plan Recommendations 4-7 4.5 Implementation and First Priorities 4-10
List of Figures
Figure 2-1: Regional Context 2-5 Figure 2-2: Patterns for Westchester 2-7 Figure 2-3: Census Tracts 2-10 Figure 2-4: Land Use 2-13 Figure 2-5: Zoning Map 2-20 Figure 2-6: Road Hierarchy 2-26 Figure 2-7: Public Transportation 2-29 Figure 2-8: Education and Community Facilities 2-35 Figure 2-9: Sewers 2-39 Figure 2-10: Environmental Features 2-42 Figure 2-11: Recreation and Open Space 2-47
Figure 3-1: CBD Aerial 3-2 Figure 3-2A: CBD Land Use 3-3 Figure 3-2B: CBD Commercial District 3-4 Figure 3-3A: Zoning Districts in CBD 3-6 Figure 3-3B: Table of Use Regulations 3-7 Figure 3-4: Physical Assets in CBD 3-9 Figure 3-4A: Buildings of Architectural Interest in CBD 3-11 Figure 3-4B: Buildings of Architectural Interest in CBD 3-12 Figure 3-5: Development Proposals and Potential Improvements in CBD 3-16 Figure 3-6: Zoning in Southern and Downtown Harrison 3-18 Figure 3-7: Non-conforming lots 3-21 Figure 3-8: Lots with Development Potential 3-24 Figure 3-9: Silver Lake Aerial 3-26 Figure 3-10: Silver Lake Land Use 3-27 Figure 3-11: Zoning in West Harrison 3-31 Figure 3-12: Aerial of Purchase 3-36 Figure 3-13: Zoning in Purchase 3-38 Figure 3-14: Significant Properties in Purchase 3-45 Figure 3-15: Platinum Mile 3-47
Figure 4-1: Future Land Use Plan 4-13
List of Tables
Table 2-1: Population in Harrison 1980-2003 2-8 Table 2-2: Select Demographic Characteristics from 2000 Census 2-8 Table 2-3: Selected Census Tract Characteristics 2-9 Table 2-4: Age of Housing Units 2-9 Table 2-5: Housing Units in Structure 2-11 Table 2-6: Key trends in housing need 2-11 Table 2-7: Generalized Land Use 2-14 Table 2-8: Private Employment sites in Harrison, with 500 or more Employees 2-17 Table 2-9: Summary of Existing Zoning Districts 2-21 Table 2-10: Average Daily (Weekday) Peak Period Ridership from Harrison 2-28 Table 2-11: Total Passenger Counts at Airport 2-30 Table 2-12: Harrison Central School District 2-37 Table 2-13: Parks and Open Space 2-51
Table 3-1: Development Potential in Purchase 3-44 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
This Comprehensive Plan for the Town/Village of Harrison has been prepared to update the existing Plan, to better reflect the current planning framework for Harrison. The last update to the Plan was conducted in 1988. Many of the 1988 recommendations have been enacted, and some are in progress. This update focuses on three key topics:
• Resolving remaining planning issues since the 1988 Update; • Identifying and resolving critical new issues; and • Incorporating any new town projects into the plan.
This plan is a guide to Harrison’s decision makers on major planning issues and their solutions (or options). Data and analyses are updated where necessary. Following the format as laid down by the 1988 update, this plan provides specific geographically based planning action guides for downtown Harrison, West Harrison (Silver Lake and Park Lane), southern Harrison, Purchase, and the Platinum Mile. The bulk of this plan concerns these areas.
This chapter sets the context for understanding geographically-specific issues and actions and also includes discussion on issues that have no specific geographic boundary (wetlands preservation, zoning changes, potable water and stormwater management concerns).
2.1 Changes since the 1988 Update Harrison today is a mature suburban community with a pattern of development which has become well defined and firmly established. The following is a summary of the major factors which shaped the growth of Harrison since the 1988 Master Plan.
Land Use Land use patterns in Harrison were well established by 1988 and defined as follows: two densely developed hamlet centers in Downtown Harrison and at Silver Lake, a large area of suburban residences south of the Cross Westchester Expressway, a belt of corporate office development north of the Cross Westchester Expressway from Rye Brook to White Plains, an area of former estates which was being subdivided, centering around Purchase, and a rural area of rough terrain and small house sites in the northwest corner of Harrison. This general land use pattern has been consolidated since 1988 with further subdivisions and the creation of suburban residences in Purchase and Park Lane. A new country club, the Country Club at Purchase, was established on a large estate east of Purchase Street, adding to the open space character of the area.
Recent Development Areas By 1988 the predominant area of undeveloped land in Harrison was located in Purchase, and this is where development has been concentrated since. The largest area of recent development was the Park Lane subdivision in Purchase, in a development of 306 single
2-1 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses family homes. In addition, 73 single family homes were developed off Purchase Street in the Hickory Pine (Purchase Estates) subdivision.
Natural Features Wetlands, floodprone areas, steep slopes and other environmentally sensitive areas are local features which define the community. They are also characteristics which strongly influenced development, constraining development in areas such as northwestern Harrison (along Park Lane). A number of additional state wetlands were designated in Harrison since 1988. The most recent designations were in July 2004.
Critical Environmental Areas A Critical Environmental Area (CEA) is a specific geographic area designated by a state or local agency as having exceptional or unique environmental characteristics. In establishing a CEA, the fragile or threatened environmental conditions in the area are identified, under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. Four CEAs were designated by Westchester County in Harrison in 1990: Westchester County Airport 60+ Ldn1 noise contour, Silver Lake Park, and Maplemoor Golf Course and Saxon Woods County Park (parts of which are in Harrison). Development proposed in a designated CEA is subject to a more in-depth review than other areas. Specifically, proposed development wholly or partially within or substantially contiguous to a CEA under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) requires that all actions be designated Type I and the lead agency either in the Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) or a DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) to consider potential impacts on the characteristics of a CEA. The airport CEA is the largest in Harrison, constituting approximately one third of the area north of Westchester Avenue.
Town/Village-Owned Property Since the 1988 Plan, the Beaver Brook Swamp project (Project Home Run) commenced which, when completed will provide 18 acres of recreation area. The former Nike base near Rye Lake (36 acres) has been and continued to be developed for various municipal uses including the fire training center. A recreational component is also being considered.
Regional Development Because several of the major Northeast Corridor transportation routes run through Harrison, the community was strongly influenced by development elsewhere in central Westchester County and southwestern Connecticut. The growth in commercial offices and residential development raised the value of land and strained the arterial highway systems in Harrison.
Public Utilities and Roadways Significant portions of Purchase were un-sewered and without adequate roadway capacities for intensive development at the time of the last plan. Since then sewers have been installed in some areas, accommodating new subdivisions.
1 Day Night Sound Level. Day Night Sound level, symbolized as Ldn, is the 24-hour average sound level, in decibels (dB), obtained from the accumulation of all events with the addition of 10 decibels to sound levels in the night from 10 PM to 7 AM.
2-2 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
2.2 Previous Plans Harrison has been the subject of planning studies since its first Master Plan in 1946. In 1950, the Purchase area was the subject of its own Master Plan which predicted that many of the large estates would be subdivided, a development pattern that is apparent today.
The 1972 Master Plan was approved after two years of study and analysis. That Plan suggested improvements to the downtown shopping area, locations for new public facilities, and a land use pattern in the Purchase area that provided for commercial growth at the County Airport and at the State University. The Plan included a land use element that proposed commercial office development at locations along the Cross Westchester Expressway, Mamaroneck Avenue and south of the County Airport. Specific land use plans were also included for downtown Harrison and Silver Lake.
The 1972 Master Plan was updated in 1988, following a process of nearly a year of study and analysis, discussions with community leaders and officials, public participation meetings and public hearings. This Plan formulated goals and objectives for the community as a whole, but also for the sectors of downtown Harrison, Silver Lake and Purchase.
2.3 The Planning Process In recent years, the Planning Board recognized that although much of the 1988 Plan remains relevant, many aspects are outdated. Harrison continues its premier position in the county as the location of corporate offices and fine residences, but this role has intensified pressures to develop the remaining vacant land.
The Comprehensive Plan process was begun in late 2004 under the direction of a volunteer committee designated by the Mayor’s office. The product of this effort, this Comprehensive Plan, represents Planning Board concurrence on policies and programs that will guide the physical development of Harrison into the 21st Century.
The work of the Plan was divided into three phases. Phase One was the update of the initial chapters of the 1988 plan, with a focus on the planning framework. Phase Two is the writing and review of the study area chapters, and the compilation of all chapters into a unified draft comprehensive plan document. Phase Two included three public consultations, which were held in late 2005, with community representatives from downtown and southern Harrison, West Harrison, and Purchase and the Platinum Mile. Phase Three was the final plan preparation, SEQR process, and public hearing process.
2.4 Development History In 1662, the land which was to become Harrison was purchased from Native Americans, but was not settled. Harrison is named after John Harrison who with four partners
2-3 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses purchased the land again in 1695. A patent was issued to John Harrison and the land was known as "The Purchase." The area began to be settled in the early 1700's as a precinct of the Town of Rye. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries Harrison was a remote farming community populated primarily by Quakers from Long Island. The Quaker meeting house in Purchase, originally constructed in 1727, is a remnant of this early history. In 1778, Harrison incorporated as a town separate from Rye.
Change came rapidly to Harrison after 1870, when the railroad brought the town within commuting distance of New York City. Many wealthy New Yorkers arrived and bought large landholdings. Downtown Harrison developed rapidly around the railroad station in the early 20th century. Silver Lake developed somewhat later as a suburb of White Plains.
Throughout the early and mid-20th century, Harrison continued to develop as a suburban community and the location of large estates. In the late 1960's and 1970's, corporate offices sought room to expand out of New York City. They were attracted to Harrison due to the large landholdings in single ownership and the well-developed system of limited access highways which had become established by that time. The 1972 Master Plan encouraged this form of development along the Cross Westchester Expressway, in the area that was to become known as the "Platinum Mile".
In 1975, Harrison was reorganized as a coterminous Town and Village under New York State Municipal Law. This action means the governing body has the power of a Town Board and a Village Board of Trustees in taxation, state and federal aid requests, and land use regulation. The Planning Board functions for both the Town and Village.
A significant element in Harrison’s development history is Westchester County Airport which had been established in Harrison during World War II as an air base. From its transformation to a commercial airport in the 1970’s, activity increased gradually until by 1986 the total number of passengers per year had passed the 500,000 mark, and by 1992 had passed the 750,000 mark.
In the 1980’s and 1990’s corporate development was consolidated and expanded in Harrison, as the attraction of suburban locations with cheap, available land and good transportation links began to surpass the attractions of city center locations. A large belt of commercial office buildings, many housing corporate headquarters, developed along the Cross-Westchester Expressway, as encouraged by the 1972 Plan. The corporations included Hitachi, Texaco, IBM and New York Telephone.
This heritage forms the basis of a discussion of existing conditions.
2.5 Context: The Region and Town The Town/Village of Harrison is a suburban community, located in east-central Westchester County, about 23 miles north of New York City. Harrison is spread over an area of more than 11,000 acres in a key location with regard to regional transportation routes (Figure 2-1). The combination of three interstate highways, the Hutchinson River Parkway, the Metro-North Railroad, and the Westchester County Airport make the community among the most accessible in Westchester County and contributes to the high
2-4 North Salem
Somers
Peekskill
Yorktown Lewisboro Buchanan Cortlandt
Bedford Croton-on-Hudson Pound Ridge Mount Kisco
Ossining Town New Castle
Ossining Village
Briarcliff Manor Pleasantville North Castle
Mount Pleasant
Sleepy Hollow Westchester County Airport
Tarrytown Elmsford
Irvington Greenburgh Harrison Rye Brook White Plains Dobbs Ferry Ardsley Port Chester Scarsdale Hastings-on-Hudson Rye City Tuckahoe Eastchester Mamaroneck Town Yonkers Bronxville Mamaroneck Village New Rochelle Larchmont Railway Mount Vernon Major road Pelham Municipal boundary Pelham Manor
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-1: REGIONAL CONTEXT 0 20,000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
value of its real estate.
Harrison is only a 35-40 minute commuter railroad ride to New York City's Grand Central Terminal, which makes it an attractive location for city workers. It also comprises part of the now well established corporate office expanse in Westchester County, in addition to adjoining the high end office sector of Fairfield County, Connecticut. (According to CB Richard Ellis2, by mid 2005 Westchester was host to approximately 32.5 million square feet of office space in 268 buildings.) These regional growth factors are much more dispersed and automobile-oriented than those involving an older suburban community linked to the central city by a commuter rail line.
2.5.1 The Region – A Region at Risk Since 1922, the Regional Plan Association (RPA) has issued three plans that provide a regional perspective on land use issues in the 31-county New York/New Jersey/Connecticut metropolitan area. The Third Regional Plan, A Region at Risk (1996), presents a broad vision for improving regional quality of life and competitiveness within a global economy. The plan’s specific recommendations, expressed as Campaigns, include polices on green areas, the economic development of centers, improved transportation systems, the workforce and governance. Some of these recommendations are incorporated in this plan.
2.5.2 Westchester County Planning Strategies – Patterns for Westchester Westchester County produced a county-wide plan in 1996 entitled Patterns for Westchester: The Land and the People, the goals of which were to strengthen centers, improve the function of corridors and protect the county’s open space character.
The basic premise of Patterns is that existing centers, if nurtured by necessary infrastructure, can support commercial and residential growth; that existing strip development along corridors can be reshaped to capture some benefits of centers; and that not all land uses are appropriate to all locations. From this perspective, hamlets and small towns function as service centers and remain the optimum locale for development investment. Harrison and Silver Lake are both identified as local centers in Patterns. Local centers typically have a well defined downtown business district and include, in addition to the uses found in hamlets, small scale offices, more extensive retail stores, supermarkets, libraries, other public buildings and residential uses “over the store” and in low-rise multifamily structures. Some parts of the identified corridors also run through Harrison. (See Figure 2-2.) The county plan encourages development along corridors to be consistent with county policy on transportation, housing, waste disposal and watershed protection. Existing corridor development can be enhanced and new corridor development can be designed to encompass mixed uses that improve their function and their economic vitality and make maximum use of the public investment in infrastructure.
2 CB Richard Ellis, MarketView, Westchester County, Midyear 2005
2-6 HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-2 : PATTERNS FOR WESTCHESTER 0 4 miles
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Westchester County plays a role in Harrison’s site specific land use decisions in two ways. When considering distributing grants or funding assistance for local planning efforts, the county can look at whether these local efforts conform to the vision set forth in Patterns. Second, through Article 239-m of the state’s General Municipal Low, the county’s planning department has mandatory review over certain proposed planning and zoning actions that occur within 500 feet of a municipal boundary and state and county facilities. These actions include the adoption of Harrison’s comprehensive plan, and the issuance of site plan approval, special permits, or variances for property within 500 feet of a municipal boundary, county or state park or recreation area, county or state roadway, county owned stream or drainage channel, or county or state-owned land on which a public building or institution is situated. If the county does not approve the proposed action, it can require that the referring local board approve the action by a majority plus one vote of all board members.
2.6 Demographics
2.6.1 Population The US Census Bureau estimated the 2004 population for Harrison at 25,553 which represents a community-wide population increase of 5.7 percent since the 2000 Census. According to this estimate, population has increased almost 11 percent from 1980.
Table 2-1: Population in Harrison 1980-2003 Year Total Percentage increase 1980 23,046 1990 23,308 1.1 2000 24,154 3.6 2004 (estimate) 25,553 5.7 Source: US Census Bureau
Detailed demographic characteristics are available from the 2000 U.S. Census. A select profile of characteristics for Harrison and Westchester County is shown in Table 2-2.
Table 2-2: Select Demographic Characteristics from 2000 Census Data Harrison Westchester County Population 24,154 923,459 Percent change 1990 - 2000 3.6 5.6 Percent under age 5 6.7 7 Percent age 6-17 17 17 Percent age 15-24 12.9 11 Percent age 18 and over 75.5 75 Percent age 65 and over 14.6 14 Median age total population 37.2 37.6 Median Family income 1999 $98,167 $79,881 Percent of Families below Poverty level 4.2 6.4 Average household size 2.7 2.7 Percent high school graduates or higher 87 83.6
2-8 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
This profile indicates, on the whole, that Harrison contains a slightly younger, more affluent and better educated population than the averages for Westchester County.
The population profile by census tract (Table 2-3) shows that three sections of the community have considerably different characteristics. The location of these census tracts is shown on Figure 2-3. The older established areas of downtown Harrison and Silver Lake share the characteristics of older, established suburban areas of Westchester County.
Table 2-3: Selected Census Tract Characteristics 84.03 84.01 86.02 87.00 84.04 85.00 Purchase and Silver Downtown South of Hutchinson Park Lane Lake/ Harrison River Parkway West Harrison Total Population 8,456 5,658 4,660 5,380 % Population change 1990- 6.4 6 39.5* 5.6 2000 Percent White alone 86.7 94.2 86.3 92.9 Percent Black or African 0.6 0.9 4.7 0.5 American alone Percent Asian alone 9.5 3.3 4.6 2.0 Percent under Age 5 6.3 7.8 7.1 5.8 Percent Age 15-24 9.1 8.1 30.6 9.1 Percent Age 65+ 14.9 15.9 9.4 17.5 Median Age 37.8 41.1 23.8 37.6 Median Family Income $78,615 $179,752 $166,492 $69,375 Average household size 2.5 3.1 3.2 2.6 Percent 1 person households 11.4 3.7 2.3 10.6 * The 2000 Census data does not reveal any figures for Census Tract 86.01, which equates to SUNY.
2.6.2 Housing stock In 2000, there were approximately 8,657 housing units in Harrison according to the U.S. Census. This had risen from the 1990 figure of 7,984, an increase of 673, or 8 percent. Approximately 38 percent of the total housing stock dates from 1949 or earlier (Table 2- 4). Out of the total number of occupied housing units of 8,394, 64 percent were owner- occupied.
Table 2-4: Age of Housing Units Year Total Percent Total Housing Units 8,657 100 Built 1990 to 2000 639 7 Built 1980 to 1989 742 9 Built 1970 to 1979 700 8 Built 1960 to 1969 1,435 17 Built 1950 to 1959 1,825 21 Built 1949 or earlier 3,316 38 Source: US Census, 2000
2-9 0086.02 0086.01 0087
0085
0084.01
0084.03
0084.04
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-3: CENSUS TRACTS Not to scale WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER GIS Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Table 2-5: Housing Units in Structure Year Total Percent Total Housing Units 8,657 100 Single family 4,859 56 2 to 9 units 3,094 36 10 to 19 units 165 2 20 to 49 units 196 2 50 or more units 343 4 Mobile homes/ other 0 0 Source: US Census, 2000
According to the Westchester County Department of Planning, there were 795 condominiums and cooperative units in Harrison in 2000, or 9.1 percent of all housing units. In Westchester County, 19.4 percent of all housing units were condominiums or cooperatives.
House prices have risen sharply in Harrison in recent years, which has created an affordability gap for those on lower incomes. In addition, Harrison’s household types have become somewhat more diverse. Alternate forms of housing would meet the demand for smaller, low-maintenance units, sought by empty-nesters, single parents, and young couples, of all incomes. Harrison should evaluate the possibility of allowing townhouses and other residential housing types in appropriate areas, to provide a greater variety of housing types. The town should also encourage the provision of housing suited for senior citizens to ensure a housing type choice at every stage of its residents’ life cycle.
Table 2-6: Key trends in housing need Harrison 1980 1990 2000 Percent age 65+ 11.2% 13.9% 14.6% Average household size 2.9 2.7 2.7 Total number of households 7,208 7,639 8,394 Percent 1 person households 17.9% 20.6% 22.1% Median value for single owner-occupied family homes $125,800 $474,400 $578,700 Source: US Census, 1980, 1990 & 2000
As documented by the 2000 Census, Harrison’s population has continued to become more diverse. The size of households has decreased since 1980 while senior citizens have grown as a component of the town’s population. The household number has increased by 10 percent since 1990, whereas the population increase was less than 4 percent. These trends, coupled with ever-increasing real estate values show a need for alternate forms of housing. Consideration of multi-family housing in various forms may represent an opportunity to meet the needs of these groups.
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2.7 Planning Concerns: Development Controls
2.7.1 Land Use An analysis of land and its use is one of the major research elements necessary in preparing a town development plan. For any planning purpose, it is important to know where and how much land is presently developed for residences, businesses, recreation and other uses, and how much land is undeveloped. The land use analysis is based on GIS data from Westchester County Planning Department compiled in 1996, updated in 2006. The results are shown on the Land Use Map, Figure 2-4. Harrison’s existing land use helps residents visualize future desirable and undesirable land use patterns and provides a foundation for the planning objectives and policies guiding future development.
Land use in Harrison can be defined as follows: two densely developed hamlet centers in downtown Harrison and at Silver Lake, a large area of suburban residences south of the Cross Westchester Expressway, a belt of corporate office development north of the Cross Westchester Expressway from Rye Brook to White Plains, an area of subdivisions and country clubs, centering around Purchase, and an area of subdivisions in rough terrain in the northwest corner of Harrison. Large acreage is devoted to such institutional uses as the State University of New York at Purchase, Manhattanville College, St. Vincent's Hospital and Keio High School and to seven country clubs, totaling more than 1,200 acres. The remaining vacant land in Harrison is mainly located in the West Harrison and Purchase sectors.
The existing land use pattern in Harrison can be defined within seven general categories. The generalized locations of these land uses are shown on Figure 2-4:
• Residential: Residential land uses are predominantly low density, with two or less dwelling units per acre comprising about 70% of the residential area. In recent years, Purchase has become a very prestigious location with the development of large houses on large lots. Moderate and higher density residential development is located primarily in downtown Harrison and Silver Lake.
• Retail: The principal retail centers are located in downtown Harrison and Silver Lake. Some isolated retail establishments have located on Anderson Hill Road and retail uses extend along the Halstead Avenue corridor towards Mamaroneck.
• Commercial Offices: In addition to the belt of commercial offices and office parks north of the Cross Westchester Expressway, areas of office development are located on Mamaroneck Avenue. Pepsico has its headquarters off Anderson Hill Road. There are also some smaller office buildings in the CBD and residence conversions around the CBD’s perimeters (such as doctors’ offices).
• Institutional: Schools, hospitals, community facilities and religious institutions comprise a significant component of Harrison's land use pattern.
• Airport: The Westchester County Airport comprises about 326 acres in the northeast corner of Harrison.
2-12 Legend Residential Mixed/ Commercial Office Airport Waterbodies West Harrison: Institutional/ Community Watershed Lands Silver Lake and Private Recreation Park Lane Public Recreation Vacant/ Under-developed Industrial/Utility Neighborhood Boundary
Purchase
Southern Harrison
Harrison Central Business District Legend
D Legend STER AV B HR Zoning_1 WE
OUT
B S NB AV ERT ST TEAD SB-0 CALV HALS Airport iwb Institutional nycacquisition Country Clubs V Public recreation A V Vacant A ND K A Quarry R A KL P A Downtown O Harrison
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-4: LAND USE AND NEIGHBORHOODS 0 5,000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS, 1996, SURVEY Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
• Recreation/Open Space: Public parks and large country clubs constitute significant open space and recreation amenities in Harrison.
• Vacant Land: The vacant land in northern Harrison represents remains of large estates in the Purchase area, and areas with severe natural constraints in West Harrison.
A breakdown of the approximate acreage of the major land use categories in 2006 is shown in Table 2-7. These figures are based on survey and Westchester County GIS data. (According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2000, Harrison contains a total of 11,136 acres.)
Table 2-7: Generalized Land Use
Use Approximate Acres, 2006 Percent Residential 4,989 44.8% Commercial, Retail & Office 809 7.3% Institutional/Recreation/Open Space 2,338 21.0% Airport 327 2.9% Vacant 637 5.7% Circulation 1,479 13.3% Water supply 164 1.5% Cemetery 20 0.2% Waterbodies 373 3.3% 11,136 Sources: Westchester County GIS, 1996; BFJ 2005 and 2006 site visits.
2.7.2 Town Development Trends Within the local context, Harrison is influenced by, and influences, patterns of development in neighboring communities. Office growth in White Plains, Greenwich and Rye Brook strains movement on limited access highways running through Harrison, and spills traffic onto the local arterial and collector roadway system.
Other land use patterns are also influenced by the local context. The character of the retail area in downtown Harrison is determined to some extent by the more competitive centers of Mamaroneck, White Plains, Rye, Port Chester and Greenwich, Connecticut. Of the 106 major retail facilities over 30,000 square feet listed in Westchester County in 2001, none were located in Harrison. However, Harrison continues to be an area of high demand for both commercial office and residential development.
Residential Residential properties are generally very highly valued in Harrison, with only limited diversity in housing stock. About 56% of Harrison's housing stock is in single family dwellings, but within this category there are numerous subcategories. The following categories of housing types and prices ranges are found in the community:
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Luxury large-lot residences: A recent trend in Purchase has been the construction of very large residences on two acre (or larger) lots, with some floor areas exceeding 10,000 square feet. These homes typically sell in the $8 to $10 million range.
Large-lot suburban residences: These are located throughout Harrison in the R-1, R-2 and R-2.5 districts on lots ranging from one acre or more. These residences generally date from the 1950's, except for Purchase where they are more recent. These homes are individually designed in a wide range of styles. In several areas around the Westchester Country Club, this type of residence has been placed on lot sizes ranging from one-third to one-half acre. The typical price range is from $2 to $5 million.
Small lot suburban residences: Scattered throughout the community and concentrated to some extent adjacent to and within the centers of downtown Harrison and Silver Lake are suburban residences on smaller lots, constructed primarily in the 1960's and 1970's. These houses are generally constructed as single-family homes in a variety of styles popular in suburban tract subdivisions. The typical price range here is in the $700,000 to $2 million range.
Two-family residences: Within downtown Harrison and West Harrison are two family residences on small lots. In some cases, this type of housing results from the conversion of a single-family house to serve a second family, although a large number of two-family residences have been constructed in the last two decades. This form of housing continues to be popular for its greater affordability. In some cases, however, abuses have led to the creation of three or four apartments in these buildings. In West Harrison, prices of $829,000 and $779,000 were noted.
Residences above retail: In downtown Harrison and West Harrison there are some mixed-residential and retail buildings. This housing type is also an important component of Harrison's housing stock, for its generally greater affordability.
Garden apartments: These are low-scale, multi-family dwellings which were developed in the 1960’s in some areas of West Harrison and downtown.
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Multi-family apartments: These are higher scale, frequently four to six story, apartment buildings which appear in areas of downtown Harrison.
According to the 2000 Census, the median value for single family owner-occupied homes in Harrison was $578,700, which was an increase of almost 22% from its 1990 level of $474,400. (The median value represents the middle value (if the number is odd) or the average of the two middle values (if the number is even) in an ordered list of data values.)
Commercial CB Richard Ellis conduct quarterly reviews of the office market in Westchester County, and they subdivide the County into five sub-regions, with Harrison being located in the Eastern sub-region3. Rents in this sub-region rose by 3% to $27.02 per square foot (SF) in the period 2004 to 2005; this rent is the highest in the county. This compares to the White Plains sub-region’s rent of $26.32 per SF. The average rents in Harrison are lower than Greenwich, Connecticut, with average rents at $41.11 per square foot4.
The commercial property market is continuously changing. The update to the 1988 Plan mentioned four major corporate headquarters; Texaco, Hitachi, IBM and New York Telephone. Texaco, following its merger to ChevronTexaco Corporation has since relocated to San Francisco, and its 725,000-square-foot property was purchased by Morgan Stanley in 2002, at a price of approximately $58 a square foot. Hitachi downsized from their 26,000-square-foot building on a 58-acre site at 2400 Westchester Avenue to a 20,000 square feet unit on the third floor of 2 Manhattanville Road. Their former 58 acre site was rezoned and developed for residential use. New York Telephone changed its name to Verizon and continues to operate from its location on Westchester Avenue. IBM is no longer headquartered in Harrison, but retains a significant presence here.
Harrison remains a desirable location for office development. Table 2-8 lists the businesses that employ 500 or more employees in Harrison at present. Office property sales are expected to increase into the future, fuelled by the continuing pattern of low interest rates, low return-on-equity or capitalization rates and a shift by investors of capital from the stock market. In May 2005, 2 and 4 Gannett Drive sold for approximately $42 million, equating to nearly $200 per square foot. That is significantly higher than the prices other office buildings have attracted in the past few years. These two buildings are located just off Westchester Avenue, adjacent to Interstate 287 along the desirable Platinum Mile, home of multiple corporate headquarters, which remains a significant asset to the Town.
3 CB Richard Ellis, MarketView, Westchester County, MidYear 2005 4 CB Richard Ellis, MarketView, Fairfield County, MidYear 2005
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Table 2-8: Private Employment sites in Harrison, with 500 or more Employees Company Number of Type of Industry Employees Morgan Stanley 1,500 Security brokers, dealers and flotation companies Pepsi Co Inc 1,500 Bottled and canned soft drinks Journal News 850 Newspapers Mastercard Inc 800 Short term business credit institutions Citi Capital 700 Short term business credit institutions Dansk International Designers 600 Miscellaneous non durable goods Diversified Investment Advisor 555 Pension, health and welfare funds Source: Westchester County Department of Planning, 2004
2.7.3 Neighborhoods
The various neighborhoods in Harrison are illustrated on the land use map, Figure 2-4.
Harrison Central Business District (CBD) This area is the heart of downtown Harrison and encompasses the area between the intersection of Broadway and Halstead Avenue to the west, Orchard Street and Harrison Avenue to the north, Grant and Halstead Avenues to the east and Park Avenue and Harrison Avenue to the south. Two town projects are underway here – the renovation and conversion of the old train station to house the new municipal court facility and Project Home Run which is an 18 acre plan to create parkland, sports fields and a nature preserve in an area previously occupied by heavy industry and a junkyard.
Downtown Harrison For the purposes of this plan, the downtown is defined as the mainly residential area surrounding the CBD, south of the New England Thruway. This area has the highest residential density in Harrison and is an important housing resource offering a range of house types.
Harrison Avenue Former Train Station prior to adaptive reuse
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Southern Harrison Between downtown Harrison to the south and Purchase and West Harrison to the north lie many neighborhoods. This area, stretching from I-87 (New England Thruway) to I-287 (Cross Westchester Expressway) holds the neighborhoods of Sunnyridge, Sterling Ridge, Westchester Country Club, Winfield and Polly Park Road.
West Harrison – Silver Lake and Park Lane This area is located north of Anderson Hill Road and west of Purchase and includes the settlement of Silver Lake in additional to the residential area of Park Lane. West Harrison contains significant environmental features and constraints. Part of the Kensico Basin is located here, which is an important component of New York City’s Catskill/Delaware water supply system. New York City has bought an area of approximately 132 acres to the south of the basin, in the interests of protecting water quality. West Harrison is an area with many steep slopes and state and locally designated wetlands. A significant amount of development has taken place since the 1988 Plan along Park Lane and it is now almost entirely suburban in character.
Silver Lake is a special resource to Harrison due to its unique lake-front setting, the quality and diversity of its housing and the character of its commercial area. The town has just commenced implementing a Master Plan for Passidomo Park and the West Harrison business district, which involves improving the park and the streetscape.
Purchase Purchase is the area located east of West Harrison and north of the Cross-Westchester Expressway. It is separated from West Harrison by the Mamaroneck River. The area is centered along Purchase Street; and the view from that roadway, along with Barnes Lane, Lincoln Avenue and Cottage Avenue determines the public character of the area. Formerly the area of large, rural residential estates, the area is now almost entirely comprised of large lot single family homes and country clubs. SUNY Purchase, Manhattanville College, the Westchester County Airport and the Pepsico headquarters are also located here.
Westchester Country Club House in Stoneleigh development
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Platinum Mile Westchester's ‘Platinum Mile’ of corporate office complexes runs through Harrison along I-287, and connects it with the growing office presence along Connecticut's "Gold Coast" in Greenwich and Stamford to the east, and also to those in White Plains and Tarrytown to the west. A number of large companies are located within the Harrison portion of the Platinum Mile, including Morgan Stanley, Verizon and United States Postal Service general mail facility.
2.7.4 Zoning Harrison adopted its first zoning ordinance in 1923. The present ordinance was adopted in 1974, reflecting recommendations of the 1972 Plan. The significant amendments to date include adding business districts to accommodate expanding office growth, and conservation development provisions added in 1981 to accommodate greater density in cluster subdivisions in rural areas served by water and sewers. Since the 1988 update, this conservation development subdivision provision was repealed and replaced with a residential cluster development provision. A general commercial zone was created in 1995, to allow for retail and some other business uses fronting onto Osborn Road. In 1990 the remaining tract of the R2.5/1 District was changed to R2. An area of land, formerly the Hitachi offices, was changed from office district to residential in 2003. The most recent amendment was passed in January 2004; this created a new R-50 district. The present zoning is shown on Figure 2-5. A summary of zoning districts, their intent, and maximum density is shown on Table 2-9.
Some significant areas of Harrison have patterns of land use inconsistent with current zoning. Many lots surrounding the Westchester Country Club have lot sizes under one acre and are non-conforming as a result. Along Harrison Avenue, north of Calvert Street, some residential buildings are partially used as professional offices in the R-75 District. Also, in the B District, many one and two family dwellings have been converted to three or even four family dwellings, in contradiction to the zoning regulations and New York State Multiple Dwelling Law. The lot coverage in the B District was reduced in 2006 from 35% to 30%. The introduction of the R-50 District in 2004 was designed to solve some of the non-conformance issues along Anderson Hill Road and Orchard Street.
The SB-Special Business Districts have been mapped in the belt north of the Cross Westchester Expressway, at the site of the Pepsico headquarters off Anderson Hill Road, and along Mamaroneck Avenue. The SB Districts have a maximum lot coverage of 20% (SB-O and SB-l) and 10% (SB-35 and SB-100) and a height limit of four stories (SB-O, SB- 35 and SB-100) and five stories (SB-l). Only the SB-35 District has a floor area ratio (FAR), which is 0.3 times the lot area.
Given the numerous changes in zoning districts and in subdivision regulations in Harrison, and the need to reduce land use inconsistent with zoning, there needs to be a
2-19 Two Family Residence Central Business District Garden Apartment District General Commercial District Multi-family Residence Multi-family Limited Retail Neighborhood Business District Professional Business District One-Family Residence One-Family Residence One-Family Residence One-Family Residence One-Family Residence One-Family Residence One-Family Residence Special Business District Special Business District Special Business District Special Business District
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-5: ZONING MAP Not to scale
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: TOWN/VILLAGE OF HARRISON, 2005 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Table 2-9: Summary of Existing Zoning Districts District Intent Minimum Lot Size/Density R-2.5 One Family Residence Provide for single family estates on 2.5 acres District large lots R-2 One Family Residence Provide for single family housing on 2 acres District large lots R-1 One Family Residence Provide for single family housing on 1 acre District large lots R-1/2 One Family Residence Provide for single family housing on ½ acre District moderate size lots R-1/3 One Family Residence Provide for single family detached 1/3 acre District housing on smaller lots R-75 One Family Residence Provide for single family detached 7,500 sq ft District housing on smaller lots R-50 One Family Residence Provide for single family detached 5,000 sq ft District housing on smaller lots B Two Family Residence Provide for two family housing in high 5,000 sq ft District density areas 2,500 sq ft DU GA Garden Apartment Provide for multiple dwellings with 80,000 sq ft District relatively low lot coverage on large lot 2,500 sq ft/D.U. near high density areas MF Multi family Residence Provide for relatively high density 4,000 sq ft District multiple dwellings with greater lot 750 sq ft/ D.U. coverage MFR Multi-Family limited Provide for a range of residential uses 4,000 sq ft retail in conjunction with office and retail 750 sq ft/D.U. business and services NB Neighborhood Business Provide for retail businesses and None District services serving local needs GC General Commercial Provide for general retail businesses None and services PB Professional Business Provide for professional offices and None District office support services with limited retail activities CBD Central Business District Provide for a variety of retail goods None and services in downtown area SB-0 Special Business District Provide for commercial office, 5 acres research and development facilities at higher densities SB-1 Special Business District Provide for commercial office, 5 acres research and development facilities at higher densities SB-35 Special Business Provide for corporate office, research, 35 acres/ 0.30 FAR District development and training facilities on large lots SB-100 Special Business Provide for large corporate parks with 100 acres District large areas of open space
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method by which approved, but unbuilt subdivisions get brought up to date to reflect current standards.
2.7.5 Development Controls
Signage A new sign law is proposed in Harrison. An in-house committee has studied the issue and is committed to creating a street graphics system that promotes the use of signs that are aesthetically pleasing, of appropriate scale, and integrated with surrounding buildings and landscape. Floor Area Ratio Harrison is experiencing the teardown of older houses and their replacement by dwellings which are built out to the setbacks, maximum lot coverage, and height allowed given the zoning code. One option would be to re-examine the dimensional requirements for each district, but any change in these dimensional requirements would make numerous lots and their houses non-conforming. A second, and better option, is for the town to adopt a residential floor area ratio (FAR). This would limit the aggregate floor area of all structures on a parcel to a percentage of the lot size. The FAR would be calculated based on a thorough analysis of what is built in each district. The FAR is then set at a slightly higher level, so that no existing buildings are made non-conforming. Other municipalities in Westchester County have adopted residential FARs to combat similar problems of bulky houses in small-lot districts where the out-of-scale development is unwanted and visually intrusive.
Landscaping Ordinance Most of Harrison’s streets are pleasant, quiet, and leafy, lined with attractive, well-kept houses. But the lack of tree planting, perimeter landscaping or the use of appropriate species in some new developments is contributing to a loss of this green appearance, shade and privacy. The town does not have a landscaping ordinance, or any guidance for landscaping in new developments. A landscaping ordinance should be adopted which outlines minimum requirements and gives guidance on the type of trees and shrubs required.
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Older house with landscaping Newer houses with minimum side yard and little room for a screen of plants
B - Two-Family District The B-district, located in both Silver Lake and West Harrison, was created after World War II to offer affordable accommodation for returning soldiers and their families. At that stage, the two units were typically comprised of one owner-occupier unit and one rental unit. In the present day, it is more common that both units are rentals. The B district is experiencing some infrastructure issues, such as a lack of on- and off-street parking for the residents. In addition, many dwellings have been illegally converted to three or even four family dwellings, in contradiction to the zoning regulations and New York State Multiple Dwelling Law. Preserving the integrity of the district requires the continued steadfast enforcement of the existing laws and periodic reevaluation.
Subdivisions The town code contains a section on residential cluster development (Chapter 235-10.1), the purpose of which is to enable subdivision development with more flexible dimensional requirements (e.g. minimum lot sizes) than conventional subdivision controls in order to preserve open space and protect sensitive environmental features. Using cluster development, developers can design subdivisions that maximize open space protection without reducing the number of homes to be built. This is achieved by clustering - locating the structures on the most usable and unconstrained portion of the property with the remainder permanently protected through conservation easements or some other mechanism. It is important to note that there is no change in the total number of structures based on the underlying zoning – they are simply carefully situated to protect land and water resources, in direct contrast to a conventional subdivision that could have an adverse impact on a greater area of a site, often fragmenting wooded areas and habitats.
This section of the code should be reviewed. One possibility is to use the term ‘Open Space Subdivision’ and to alter the text to reflect this different approach. An open space subdivision differs from traditional clustering in three important ways. First, it sets higher standards for the quantity, quality and configuration of the resulting open space and developable area. Second, communities can exercise greater influence on the design of new subdivisions because the regulations are designed to be flexible so that more land is retained for the community for active or passive recreation, wildlife habitat, and stormwater management. Thirdly, the protected land is configured so that it will, wherever practicable, contribute to an interconnected network of open space throughout
2-23 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses the community, linking resource areas in adjoining subdivisions and/or providing buffers between new development and preexisting parklands or forest.
Open space subdivisions could be used for parcels over a certain size, say 25 acres, or for when the Planning Board finds that a conventional layout would alter environmentally sensitive land or the surrounding context, utilizing open space subdivision to a case-by- case basis.
Harrison’s ordinance allows the yield for the cluster subdivision to be calculated based on what would be permitted under a conventional subdivision, conforming to all requirements of the law. A way to strengthen this language is to ensure that environmentally constrained land, including wetlands, floodplains, steep slopes, and special habitats, is not used in the calculation of yield. Conventional subdivision yield can be determined from either a “yield plan” or a full-blown preliminary conventional plan submittal, as determined by the Planning Board.
In regard to the open space, if the zoning text does not specify that it should be at least a certain size, it can end up being a long narrow fringe abutting rear lot lines and the parcel's outer perimeter. This can be easily avoided by clarifying, in the ordinance, that lots and roads shall not cover a specified percentage of the parcel, and that a portion of the remaining open space must be otherwise buildable or usable for active recreation. Common open areas could be managed by a Home Owner’s Association (HOA) or other suitable entity.
The requirement for the provision of open space however does not replace the obligation for the developer to also pay a recreation fee to the town. Section 204-32B establishes the provisions for the park site requirement and the payment in lieu of the park site set- aside in the amount of $0.15 per square foot of the parcel being subdivided or $2,000 per dwelling unit (whichever is greater). Harrison holds these funds in a special Park and Recreation Site Acquisition and Improvement Fund, and uses the fund for the acquisition of sites that are properly located for neighborhood parks, playgrounds or recreational purposes or for the physical improvement of such sites. (See discussion under 2.11 Open Space and Recreation.)
Controls can be built into any revised text to ensure that existing residences that abut the proposed development are not adversely affected. This can include a requirement for a minimum depth perimeter buffer, which would protect existing residences from any impact on their privacy and amenities. This buffer would be counted towards satisfying the open space requirement.
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2.8 Transportation and Parking
2.8.1 Hierarchy of Roadways The purpose of the roadway functional classification is to define the function of each roadway so that roads can be properly designed and maintained, and access to roads properly managed to avoid traffic conflicts. Figure 2-6 shows the existing roadway hierarchy as it functions today.
Limited Access Highways These roads provide regional access for vehicles traveling through Harrison. They primarily carry high-speed, long distance, through traffic. All access and egress occurs via grade-separated interchanges, and access to individual properties along the rights-of- way is prohibited. There are four limited access highways running through Harrison: Interstate 684, the New England Thruway (I-95), the Cross-Westchester Expressway (I- 287) and the Hutchinson River Parkway.
Arterials Arterials are designed to carry traffic between Harrison and the surrounding towns and villages. There are two major arterials: Mamaroneck Avenue and Westchester Avenue.
There are a number of minor arterials including Anderson Hill Road and Purchase Street. The Planning Board should discourage direct access to arterial roads from adjoining land wherever possible. Separate local roads should be required in those cases where access cannot be obtained from intersecting side roads. The width of the pavement of the arterial should be sufficient to permit the movement of traffic in both directions. On-street parking should be discouraged along arterials.
New York State Department of Transportation provides traffic counts for state and county roads in Harrison.
Interstate 287 (Cross Westchester Expressway) This major limited access east-west oriented six-lane highway links Interstate 95 to the east with the New York Thruway (Interstate 87) to the west. I-287 is flanked by one-way service arterial roads known as Westchester Avenue Eastbound and Westbound between White Plains and Harrison. The Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) for 1-287 between the western town boundary and the junction with I-684 was approximately 119,200.
New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is undertaking a phased reconstruction of I-287 at present. This project involves the reconstruction of 10 miles of highway beginning at the toll plaza of the Tappan Zee Bridge and extending eastward past the Hutchinson River Parkway to Route 120 (Purchase Street). The improvements include rehabilitating the existing six-lane roadway, eliminating choke points and making safety improvements along the corridor, including the rehabilitation or replacement of more than 30 bridges.
2-25 P
T U KING ST. S
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E C K
H A
L A
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BARNES LA E
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T INTERSTATE V A Y A GE W CHE A K EST S T R S W T A S E OT P RO R I-287 C C T E 684 X IT P V R Y A R E L LL I M I N
H C R O E
D L N N U ANDERSON HILL ROAD A V
WESTCHESTER ATTAN AVE NH - MA ROAD VILLE Legend RATE Limited Access Highway PO COR PARK Major Arterial D R H T Minor Arterial R O W IL Collector N RK RD E OLLYPA K P Interchange N O R Trouble Spots TH ST
V AV A ST W CU N LO E
S
T SO I
MAMARO S R
T R Y A KWA R H A P I-95 NEW ENGLAND THRUWAY R E V NECK AVE. HALSTEAD AVE. RI ON HINS TC U H V A N PARK AVE. O IS R R A H
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-6: ROAD HIERARCHY 0 5,000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: PATTERNS FOR WESTCHESTER, 1996 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Hutchinson River Parkway (907-W) This four-lane north-south oriented divided parkway links the Merritt Parkway to the north with the Cross Bronx Expressway (I-95) to the south. The AADT (2003) between North Street and I-287 was approximately 98,900.
Interstate 684 This major limited access four to six lane north-south oriented highway connects I-84 to the north with I-287 and the Hutchinson River Parkway to the south. The AADT (2003) for I-684 between the junction with I-287 and Purchase Street was approximately 65,800.
New England Thruway I-95 The New England Thruway is a 15 mile thruway that connects the Bruckner Expressway (I- 278) in the Bronx to the Connecticut Turnpike on the New York/ Connecticut border. This is a major limited access six lane highway. The AADT (2003) for Harrison was approximately 102,900.
NYS Route 120 (Purchase Street) This northwest-southeast oriented two-lane minor arterial road extends from NYS Route 100 in the Town of New Castle to Boston Post Road (U.S. Route 1) in the City of Rye. The AADT for 2003 between Westchester Avenue and the junction with Hutchinson River Parkway was approximately 6,600.
County Route #73 (North Street) This northwest-southeast oriented two lane minor arterial road extends from a signalized intersection with Westchester Avenue in White Plains to Boston Post Road. The AADT (1999-2002) for North Street between Locust Avenue and Harrison Avenue was approximately 4,700.
NYS Route 127 (Harrison Avenue) This north-south oriented two lane road runs through Downtown and connects the Boston Post Road in the south to North Street. The AADT for 2003 between Halstead Avenue and Union Avenue was approximately 12,400.
Polly Park Road (County Route #104) This north-south oriented two lane road connects Purchase Street to North Street. It has traffic signals at both ends. The AADT (1999-2002) for Polly Park Road between Purchase Street and North Street was approximately 5,100.
Anderson Hill Road (County Route #18) This east-west oriented two lane road connects Westchester Avenue to King Street in Rye. The AADT for 1999-2002 between Westchester Avenue and Blind Brook was approximately 9,000.
Conflicts occur between this road hierarchy and the adjacent land uses. Some streets are primarily residential, but they are used by through traffic as a result of their layout and because they lead to limited access highways. Anderson Hill Road and Lincoln Avenue suffer from this conflict. They support single-family homes and carry significant volumes of through traffic. Because of the numerous driveways, these roads do not function very effectively as through roads, and moreover, the through traffic affects the residential
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quality of the neighborhood in a negative manner. These functional conflicts exist along many roadways in Harrison (and in numerous suburban or small-town communities), such as along Anderson Hill Road.
2.8.2 Other Transportation
Commuter Railroad Downtown Harrison is served by the Metro-North commuter railroad, with frequent service to Grand Central Station. According to the 2000 Census data, almost 17 percent of the workforce commutes by train. This is an increase from the 1990 figure of 13 percent. Average daily peak period ridership from Harrison (Table 2-10) has been in decline since 2000. The Harrison station is popular for non-resident commuters because it is near the beginning of a fare zone and is less crowded than many stations closer to New York City. Commuter parking is available adjacent to the station. On the north-bound side of the tracks, the parking lots are owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and have meters. On the southbound side of the tracks, the parking lot is owned by the ain Station Town of Harrison and is regulated by annual permits which are issued upon application with proof of residency and a fee. Daily parking permits are issued for the occasional trip to New York if there is space in the parking lot. Weekend and holiday parking is free.
Harrison Train Station Bicycle Parking at Train Station
Table 2-10: Average Daily (Weekday) Peak Period Ridership from Harrison Year Number 1985 1,419 1998 1,497 1999 1,530 2000 1,571 2001 1,563 2002 1,529 2003 1,432 2004 1,399 2005 1,403 Source: Metro-North Railroad, 1985 - 2006
2-28 Legend Proposed NYSDOT Trailway Bee-Line Bus Route Metro-North Railroad
Hutchinson River Parkway East Coast Greenway Proposed Trailway
Train Station
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-7: PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION 0 5,000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS, BEE-LINE SYSTEM Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Bus Harrison is served by Westchester County bus lines. Most lines through Harrison emanate from the White Plains hub (Figure 2-7). Consequently, service within the community from points north to south and vice versa is not particularly effective. According to the 2000 Census, only 0.2% of the workforce commutes to work by bus.
Westchester County Airport Westchester County Airport was constructed during World War II as an air defense satellite base, and is county-owned. It currently serves commercial, corporate and private aircraft. By 1978, the airport was operating near capacity. In 1980, Westchester County developed a Master Plan for the airport which included plans for expansion. Local residents strongly opposed any form of airport expansion. Since 1985 commercial traffic at the airport has been restrained by operation of a Terminal Capacity Agreement. These restrictions were further extended and signed into Westchester County law in September 2004, into what is known as the Terminal Use Regulation. This limits the number of passengers and the number of flights to four flights per half hour (either arriving or departing). A Voluntary Restraint from Flight (VRFF) agreement is also in place, which applies to the hours between 12 midnight and 6.30 a.m.. The level of flights at the airport has never approached the maximum limit.
Table 2-11: Total Passenger Counts at Airport Year No of Passengers Master Plan Projections 1986 562,152 500,000 1987 705,254 1988 667,735 1989 732,066 1990 709,963 1991 689,035 702,000 1992 764,737 1993 949,452 1994 933,202 1995 963,924 1996 991,960 877,000 1997 1,084,907 1998 982,333 1999 1,041,545 2000 1,024,639 Source: Westchester County Airport Aircraft Noise Study, 2002
2-30 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses ort The airport operates light general aviation and corporate aviation, with over 400 corporate jets based there. There are no plans for expansion at present, but there are continuing plans for improvements to safety, efficiency and environmental performance. Some minor alterations are proposed, such as an area for overnight parking of aircraft, security improvements and de-icing facilities.
The airport creates many impacts in Harrison. As a significant economic driver, it facilitates the attraction and viability of businesses, but it also creates noise. Although the airport itself is located in Harrison, much of the spin-off commercial development is located in the Town of North Castle. The land in the vicinity of the airport, along Purchase Street, is mainly in residential use. Residential use in the vicinity of the airport often leads to opposition to airport activity, based on the noise.
The airport 60 + Ldn (Day Night Sound Level)5 noise contour has been designated as a County Critical Environmental Area. Development proposed in a designated CEA is subject to a more in-depth review than other areas. Specifically, proposed development wholly or partially within or substantially contiguous to a CEA under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), requires the lead agency to designate all projects as Type I Actions and either in the Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) or a DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) to consider potential impacts on the characteristics of a CEA.
The airport CEA is the largest in Harrison, constituting approximately one third of the area north of Westchester Avenue, see Figure 2-10. Development within the CEA, in Harrison, will be primarily residential, given the R-2 and R-1 zoning.
Bicycle Walking and bicycling are a means of transportation that is energy efficient, generates no air pollution, provides the health benefits of exercise, and is consistent with compact traditional communities. For these reasons the New York State Department of Transportation, the metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), local governments and other agencies and organizations are creating an extensive network of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in the Hudson Valley. These range from sidewalks in cities and villages to shoulders for walking and cycling in rural areas to regional trailways on their own rights-of-way. One of these proposed trailways runs through Harrison, along the Hutchinson River Parkway. This trailway also forms part of the East Coast Greenway which is an ambitious plan of the East Coast Greenway Alliance to connect all the major cities of the East Coast along a continuous, off-road path, spanning 2,600 miles from Calais, Maine to Key West, Florida.
5 Day Night Sound Level. Day Night Sound level, symbolized as Ldn, is the 24-hour average sound level, in decibels (dB), obtained from the accumulation of all events with the addition of 10 decibels to sound levels in the night from 10 PM to 7 AM.
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2.8.3 Planning Concerns: Circulation and Parking Controls
Access Management One way of improving the traffic flow and safety in the town and to resolve the functional conflict created by excessive driveways along arterials and collectors, is through the implementation of an access management plan. Among the many benefits of a managed roadway are increased public safety, reduction of congestion, extended life of the roadway and improved appearance of the built environment. Access management also serves to both preserve the transportation functions of roadways as well as the long- term property values and the economic viability of abutting development. A further benefit is the ability to concentrate commercial activity in a smaller area, which is less damaging to landscapes and the environment.
Access management strategies aim to alleviate the inherent conflicts between the function of through traffic of an arterial and the local function of access to abutting properties. As traffic volumes increase along the arterials, conflicts become more and more problematic in terms of congestion and accidents, and will eventually hamper the economic well being, as well as the quality of life in the town. Eventually it will become difficult to make left turns onto and off arterials, which may lead to an increase in accidents.
Access management attempts to group the turning movements in and out of properties, or shift them to side streets or service roads or to minimize the more problematic turns, i.e. the left turns. The basic goal is to improve traffic flow and safety along the arterial without reducing access. Accident rates along arterials are related to the density of driveways. The elimination or discouragement of certain turns in and out driveways is often seen as a reduction in accessibility. However, this potential reduction is generally offset by increased accessibility to the property from side streets or from adjacent properties. By facilitating traffic flow along the arterials, these actions will make it easier for the volume of vehicles to grow, which will be beneficial in the long term and will increase property values.
Studies have shown that an effective access management program can reduce crashes by as much as 50 percent, increase roadway capacity by 25 to 45 percent, and reduce travel time and delay as much as 40 to 60 percent. Though property owners need a driveway permit from NYSDOT, the state has limited authority to control and manage access along the state roads. The land use authority of the town offers the best regulatory means to manage access along an arterial. By developing an access management program, the town can work to minimize and possibly eliminate the most hazardous movements (left turns in and out) in the town.
Access management strategies also have beneficial impacts on pedestrian circulation in the sense that the actions encourage more walking between adjacent properties (by providing connections) and by making walking more pleasant along any sidewalk that may exist in the area, due to reduced numbers of driveways and vehicular turns. Aesthetics are generally also improved by access management plans.
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Parking Downtown Harrison, the Central Business District and Silver Lake all experience parking conflicts. The effectiveness of the town’s parking regulations is in need of review.
The off-street parking requirements should be reviewed with a view to more accurately address the requirements for some of the uses, such as office and retail. At present, for office uses one space is required per 200 square feet of floor area, except that a proprietary executive headquarters office building in an SB-35 or SB-100 district shall have whichever is the greater requirement as determined by the Planning Board, one per 350 square feet or 0.9 per each employee on site at any one time. Consideration should be given to reducing the requirement for offices to one space per 300 square feet of gross floor area. For a proprietary executive headquarters office building, consideration should be given to removing the provision for 0.9 spaces per employee, i.e. requiring one space per 350 square feet. Such a modification will more accurately reflect actual usage patterns and reduce the amount of unnecessary impervious surface created.
The off-street parking regulations include a ten-space waiver for all non-residential uses in the Downtown Revitalization Target Area, the Halstead Avenue Commercial Corridor, and the Silver Lake Commercial Area. These waivers were intended to allow flexibility to businesses locating in the area, but they may be responsible for some of the present day parking shortages. The effectiveness of the waivers needs to be examined. In tandem with this, consideration should be given to reducing the off-street parking requirements for non-residential uses. In-lieu fees and other innovative solutions should also be studied by the Planning Board. Any such fees should be allocated to the Parking Authority to be used for transportation and parking improvements in the area.
Traffic Calming Some streets in the town, particularly in Silver Lake and the downtown, are used as shortcuts by commuters to access the state highways. The speed and volume of this traffic can detract from the quality of life in a neighborhood. In addition, the most important factor in the severity of a crash is the speed of the vehicles. By employing traffic calming measures, the town can both decrease the number and severity of crashes and improve the quality of life in its neighborhoods. Traffic calming methods are especially useful in high crash locations and residential streets or collectors suffering from high travel speeds.
Traffic calming measures include measures such as:
• Four-way stops applied to residential intersections. Typically four-way stops are only recommended at locations where there are sight-distance restrictions. However, they are an inexpensive control device, slowing down traffic and increasing intersection safety.
• Speed humps (an improved version of speed bumps that are bicycle friendly and can be plowed). Generally speed humps are only recommended on local and collector roads at locations that are not steep and have good sight distances as needed. They are effective in reducing speeds (especially the high-speeds drivers) and in improving safety. Their location needs to be coordinated with emergency services and they need to be designed so that drainage continues to function.
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• Pinch points. At locations with good sight distances (possibly where there are overpasses or culverts), the town can narrow each lane width or narrow two lanes to one lane with adequate signing. This strategy needs to be coordinated with the emergency services and school bus services.
Some of these measures could be implemented on a test basis. Speeds and volumes should be measured before and after the construction of the speed device. Additionally, New York State DOT has traffic calming grants for which the town may apply.
2.9 Community Facilities, Services, and Infrastructure
2.9.1 Emergency Services
Police The Harrison Police Department is located at the corner of North Street and Pleasant Ridge Road and has a total force of eighty. The Patrol Division consists of thirty-six uniformed police officers, eight sergeants and three lieutenants. Police service is provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by uniformed police officers, and supervised by uniformed patrol sergeants and lieutenants. Officers assigned to the patrol division are responsible for patrolling approximately 24 square miles and answering all calls for police service, which includes first responder medical service. The Police Auxiliary Force assists with traffic and crowd control at special events.
Fire Harrison is served by five fire districts, manned mostly by volunteers and supplemented by career firefighters in the downtown district only. Each department elects its chiefs and officers. All firefighters attend drills and training sessions, to maintain and improve their firefighting and rescue skills, so that they can function at maximum efficiency when needed.
Fire Protection District #1, the West Harrison area, covers eleven square miles and is entirely Harrison Avenue Fire Station manned by volunteer firefighters. This district has 110 members.
Fire Protection District #2, the Downtown area, has fourteen career firefighters and 70 volunteer firefighters.
Fire Protection District #4, Purchase area is served by 50 volunteer firefighters.
Fire Protection District #3 is served by the Rye City Fire Department, under a contract with Harrison. It is a small district close to the Rye border.
Fire Protection District #5, North Castle Border is served by the West Harrison Fire District #1.
2-34 Fire Protection District #5 Fire Protection District #1 Airport kj
SUNY
XY# $ Samuel J. Purchase kjkPreston Elementary St. Anthony’s $ Elementary School k School Keio Academykj Manhattanville k k College kj Fire Protection Legend District #4 k Waterbodies $ XYk kj Fire District Boundary Private School kj kj Holy Child k Public School kj Schoolkj k %, Police Station kj # Library k $ Post Office k University/College XY Senior Center XY kj %, Fire Protection Fire Station District #3 Municipal Building kj Fire Protection kj District #2 %,kj$ Harrison ## High k Louis M. School Klein k kHarrison Avenue kj Middle Elementary School kj k School kk XY tricts # Parsons $ MemorialkXY k School
k k k
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-8: EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY FACILITIES 0 5000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Harrison Emergency Medical Services Harrison has a Volunteer Ambulance Corps (HVAC). The headquarters is located adjacent to the Police Station, on the corner of North Street and Pleasant Ridge Road. The HVAC has a staff of fifty volunteers, five full time employees and over twenty part-time employees.
2.9.2 Education
Schools Harrison is served by both public and parochial schools. Harrison Central School District is coterminous with the Town/Village of Harrison. Most elementary students attend neighborhood schools from kindergarten through fifth grades. West Harrison is served by the Samuel J. Preston elementary school, and Purchase is served by Purchase Elementary. Downtown Harrison is served by two elementary schools: the Harrison Avenue School and the Parsons Memorial School. The Louis M. Klein Middle School serves students in grades six through eight. High school students, grades nine through twelve, attend the Harrison High School.
Purchase Elementary School Harrison High School
There are two parochial schools serving Harrison. St. Anthony’s in Silver Lake serves students in grades K through eighth grades. The School of the Holy Child, located on Westchester Avenue, serves grades five through twelve.
Total enrollment in the Harrison Central School District in 2005 was 3,494 students (Table 2-12). A comprehensive plan for Harrison’s schools is being undertaken at present to address some infrastructural and capacity issues at each of the six schools.
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Table 2-12: Harrison Central School District School Grades 2004-05 2005-06 Enrollment Enrollment Harrison High School 9-12 878 957 Louis M. Klein Middle 6-8 802 808 School Parsons Memorial School K-5 448 439 Harrison Avenue K-5 542 522 Elementary School Samuel J. Preston School K-5 304 312 Purchase School K-5 474 456 Total 3,448 3,494 Source: Harrison Central School District
Libraries Three library facilities serve the residents of Harrison. The main public library is located on Bruce Avenue. A branch library and history center is located in Silver Lake. The Purchase Free Library, located in the Purchase Community House, has an independent charter and is available to Purchase residents. The library offers a range of other cultural services to both adults and children of Harrison. Special services are also available to the disabled and homebound.
Higher Education There are two major institutions of higher education in Harrison, which also make a valued contribution to the cultural life of the community.
Manhattanville College is a private undergraduate institution with approximately 1,850 full time students and 1,000 part-time graduate students. This college is also an important historic asset to the town. The land on which it is built originally formed part of Whitelaw Reid’s estate, which was designed by noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and architect Stanford White. Reid Hall is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Reid Hall, Manhattanville College Source: Manhattanville College The State University of New York (SUNY) at Purchase was opened in 1972. Enrollment has fallen from the 1988 level of 3,700 undergraduate students at the college to 3,302 in 2004. The college intends on expanding and has projected a figure of 4,057 undergraduate students by 2010. The college also contains the Neuberger Museum of Art and the Performing Arts Center which are valuable cultural institutions in the town.
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2.9.3 Water, Sewer and Stormwater Management
Water Since 2005 Harrison has been served by one water district, Westchester Joint Water Works, which is operated by the town in conjunction with the Town and the Village of Mamaroneck. The water district serves Silver Lake, Purchase, and downtown Harrison. The Westchester Joint Water Works serves approximately six thousand customers in the town. Harrison’s water is purchased from the New York City Water system and is pumped from Kensico Reservoir.
Sewers Harrison is served by four sewer districts. The Mamaroneck and Blind Brook Districts include county trunk lines along the eastern and western borders of the community and serve most of Harrison. Portions of the northern part of the community are served by the Bronx River and Upper Bronx systems.
Figure 2-9 indicates a large portion of Harrison, north of Anderson Hill Road, is not sewered. However, as new subdivisions are developed in the area, the town is committed to providing the necessary extensions.
Stormwater Management Stormwater discharges are generated by precipitation and runoff from land, pavement, building rooftops, and other surfaces. Stormwater runoff accumulates pollutants such as oil and grease, chemicals, nutrients, metals, and bacteria as it travels across land. Heavy precipitation or snowmelt can also cause sewer overflows which, in turn, may lead to contamination of water sources with untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials, and other debris. Harrison is now subject to federal EPA regulations on the management of stormwater flows. These are known as Phase II requirements of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. These require that the town address the problem of non-agricultural source stormwater runoff.
New York State, New York City, and the town all regulate stormwater management in Harrison. The State has set down requirements for each town to comply with the federal Phase II stormwater law. To comply with Phase II, New York State issued two non- industrial Stormwater Management General Permits under the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES); GP-02-01 for construction activity, and GP-02-02 for MS4s (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems). Under GP-02-02, regulated MS4s must establish stormwater management programs that reduce the discharge of pollutants to the maximum extent practicable. Stormwater management programs must include six minimum control measures, two of which are relevant to the plan.
Minimum Control Measure 4 – Construction Site Runoff Control To comply with GP-02-02, operators of MS4s are required to adopt a new local law, amend existing local laws and ordinances, or establish an equivalent regulatory mechanism to reduce pollutants in stormwater runoff from construction activities that disturb one or more acres of land.
2-38 Town Boundary Unsewered areas
Bronx River Sewer District Mamaroneck Sewer District Blind Brook Sewer District Upper Bronx Sewer District
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-9: SEWERS 0 5,000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS AND HARRISON ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Minimum Control Measure 5- Post-Construction Stormwater Management Either separately or in combination with Minimum Measure 4, MS4 municipalities must adopt new local laws, amend existing local laws and ordinances or establish equivalent regulatory mechanisms to reduce discharge of pollutants in stormwater runoff after completion of construction.
Watershed Management Harrison lies in the Long Island Sound watershed which is designated an Estuary of National Significance. Westchester County instigated a non-point source pollution control program in 1991 to dovetail with the federal and bi-state Long Island Sound Study. This program has focused its efforts on inter-municipal watershed planning, natural resources restoration and public outreach and education since 1995. The Long Island Sound watershed was separated into seven study areas made up of one to three sub-watersheds. A Watershed Advisory Committee (WAC) is assigned to each study area, and two WACs are responsible for Harrison, WAC 3 and 4. Both these WACs published reports which assessed and made recommendations for improving the following:
• municipal ordinances and comprehensive plans of development • streams • wetlands • stormwater management • public education and outreach
Regulated MS4s that discharge stormwater to 303(d) (List of Impaired Waters) listed streams or TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) watersheds are required to meet the standard of “no increase in pollutants of concern.” Some watercourses, such as Blind Brook, are listed. A regulated MS4 discharging to a TMDL watershed is required to ensure improvement in water quality. Stormwater management programs must ensure no increase in the listed pollutants of concern to the listed water. New York State DEC provides direct guidance to affected MS4s.
New York State Department of State recommend adopting a regulation for stormwater management as a local law under the Municipal Home Rule Law, rather than as an ordinance under New York General City Law, Town Law, and Village Law. When adopted under the Municipal Home Rule Law, a local law has the same status as an act of the New York State Legislature. Enactment by local law has the benefit of constitutional and home rule authority.
Because stormwater management is a necessary part of all land development projects, one way to establish local control of stormwater impacts during and after construction is to amend the existing local laws and ordinances that govern zoning, subdivision and site plan review. By making use of existing local land use controls, this avoids creating a new permit for stormwater management. The Sample Local Law for Stormwater Management and Erosion and Sediment Control as devised by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation can be utilized for this purpose.
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New York City’s Watershed Regulations The city also regulates stormwater management in Harrison, due to the critical role of Kensico Reservoir in New York City’s water supply. NYCDEP has set down regulations for development in the form of the Rules and Regulations for the Protection from Contamination, Degradation, and Pollution of the New York City Water Supply and its Sources (Watershed Regulations) 1997.
2.10 Natural Environment Figure 2-10 demonstrates various natural and environmental features which contribute to the character of Harrison.
Ridge Lines and Steep Slopes A major ridge line runs from Rye Lake through downtown Harrison separating the Blind Brook and Mamaroneck River drainage areas. There are also many areas of steep slopes (defined as slopes of 15% or more) located throughout Harrison. Faced with diminishing amounts of level land, developers are increasingly looking to lots that are situated on steep slopes and grades. A Steep Slopes Law was adopted in 2006 which requires a slope permit. This will ensure any application for development on steep slopes is thoroughly evaluated.
Water Bodies and Flood Hazard Areas Three major areas are defined within the 100 year flood plain - those areas adjacent to Blind Brook, Brentwood Brook, and branches of the Mamaroneck River. Floodplains offer benefits in the form of improved water quality, opportunities for recreation, and enhanced habitat for river wildlife. Floodplains should be protected from intensive development of new residences and commercial buildings. Flooding occurs along these watercourses in Harrison, and causes damage to homes in the vicinity.
Water quality is an issue for some ponds and lakes in the town, where eutrophication is taking place. Eutrophication is the gradual increase and enrichment of an ecosystem by nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The increase in available nutrients promotes plant growth, favoring certain species over others and forcing a change in species composition. In aquatic environments, enhanced growth of choking vegetation or ntary School phytoplankton (that is, an algal bloom) disrupts normal functioning of the ecosystem, causing a variety of problems. Human society feels the impact as well: eutrophic conditions decrease the resource value of rivers, lakes and estuaries such that recreation and aesthetic enjoyment are hindered. Health-related problems can occur where eutrophic conditions interfere with drinking water treatment. There are numerous methods of addressing the problem of eutrophication, including tackling the source of excess nutrients, such as the presence of geese. The seasonal draw-down of water would also help to eliminate excess algal growth. Measures to improve water quality in all waterbodies in Harrison should be examined. Possible measures include:
Geese and duck control: the fowl population must be controlled Construction of sediment ponds Growth of a hedge buffer around the waterbody’s edge
2-41 Westchester County Airport 60 LDN Noise Contour CEA
Silver Lake Park CEA
Mamaroneck River Basin Blind Brook Basin
Maplemoor Golf Course CEA Beaver Swamp Brook
Beaver Swamp Brook West Saxon Woods nd County Park CEA
tLegendreams arc Stream/ River ilver_Lake_park_CEA Critical Environmental Areas etlands04State Wetlandspolygon cslopeSlopes 15% + cflood100 and 500 year floodplains cdrainDrainage arc Divide irportAirport
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-10: ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES 0 5,000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Winter water draw-down measures to fatally expose the weeds to the atmosphere Introduce sterile grass carp, which ingest aquatic plants
Wetlands The Town of Harrison regulates wetlands through its wetlands ordinance (Chapter 149). This states that wetlands are invaluable resources for flood protection, wildlife habitat, open space and water resources. The ordinance refers to the map filed by the State Department of Environmental Conservation with the Clerk of the town. It establishes a 100’ wetlands buffer and requires a permit from the Town Planning Board for the listed regulated activities.
There are three levels of designation for wetlands: federal (through the Army Corps of Engineers), state, and local. Wetlands over 12.4 acres in size are mapped and protected by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC). Any construction activity that might have an impact on these wetlands (excavation, filling, building, obstructions, potential pollution sources etc.) is regulated, whether or not the activity occurs in the wetland itself or on land adjacent to the wetland.
For wetlands smaller than 12.4 acres in size, the town is responsible for their identification and protection. Wetlands are subject to constant change, in terms of their hydrology, plant life and drainage. Therefore it would be difficult to produce a definitive town wetlands map, as it would require constant modification. At the site specific level, delineation of wetlands will require the services of a soil scientist or wetland consultant to determine exact boundaries.
Beaver Swamp Brook – Project Home Run Beaver Brook is subject to periodic flooding and is particularly significant because it runs through downtown Harrison. One of the town’s projects, carried out in conjunction with the county and state, is the Beaver Swamp Brook project. Initially, a two-acre site between Park and Bradford Avenues was converted from a severely degraded marsh into a haven for wildlife and a natural water filter. First, dense invasive common reeds (Phragmites australis) as well as junk (an abandoned shed and car, steel drums, and automobile parts) were removed. Then thousands of native plants representing more than two dozen species were installed, as were shrubs and trees that included dogwood, ash, maple, oak and sycamore. Roosts for herons and swales for breeding turtles were installed, as was a subsurface structure in the stream channel to reduce stream bank erosion. The plants provide habitat for fish and wildlife and help filter out pollutants and excess nutrients before they enter adjacent Beaver Swamp Brook and downstream Long Island Sound.
This project has since grown into a larger recreational project, covering 18 acres, and providing parkland, youth baseball and soccer fields, walking trails and a nature preserve, in addition to infrastructure improvements to Oakland Avenue.
Kensico Reservoir The Kensico Reservoir is the final stop for 90% of New York City’s drinking water supply before it enters the water tunnels that carry it to consumers’ taps. Normally, all of the water from the City’s Catskill and Delaware watersheds — located in parts of Ulster,
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Delaware, Greene, Schoharie and Sullivan Counties west of the Hudson River –– flows into the Kensico Reservoir. As Harrison obtains its water from this water supply system, the protection of the quality of Kenisco is vital for both New York City and Harrison.
The Kensico Environmental Enhancement Program (KEEP) is a committee formed to protect the Kensico Reservoir. Its mission is to educate the communities in the Kensico watershed about the importance of protecting water quality. By educating the people who live and work in the 13-square-mile watershed about how their daily activities affect water quality, KEEP works to protect the watershed and reservoir from pollution.
Funded by New York City, KEEP is a joint effort of DEP, county and local governmental organizations, and residents from the towns surrounding the Reservoir to enhance the Kensico’s water quality and protect the watershed from pollution. The group has an Executive Board composed of community leaders and designated representatives of local governments in the Kensico watershed. KEEP develops public outreach and educational programs on watershed protection in Harrison and the four other towns in the watershed: New Castle, North Castle, Mount Pleasant, and Greenwich, Connecticut.
Deer The virtually unchecked growth in Westchester’s herd of white-tailed deer has led to high fences to keep yards and gardens intact, the loss of plants and trees due to deer browsing, Lyme disease and the fear of it that keeps residents indoors, and collisions between deer and vehicles. Harrison should try to avoid the proliferation of deer fencing, but as a long-term solution needs a plan that reduces the deer population. As it is not alone in this, Harrison should discuss the various strategies that other municipalities are using in order to develop its own policy.
Geese An estimated 20,000-25,000 ‘resident’ Canada geese breeding pairs live in New York State in addition to unknown numbers of non-breeding and juvenile geese. These ‘resident’ geese are distinct from the migrating geese that pass through New York, as they tend to remain year-round in one location. This ‘resident’ population has created problems in Harrison, particularly where there are expanses of grass located near unobstructed water bodies.
Some options for the control of geese include: Reducing grassy expanses by planting trees and shrubs and allowing some areas to turn into meadows. Establishing shrubbery, trees and ground cover around ponds. Restricting public picnicking to pavilions. Enforcing non-feeding legislation. Utilization of noise-makers. Use of trained dogs, such as border collies.
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2.11 Open Space and Recreation
Parks Public parks in Harrison are operated by the Department of Public Works and the Recreation Department, and by the county. There are 81.8 acres of municipally owned public parks, the major ones being the John A. Passidomo Park in Silver Lake (48 acres), Veterans Memorial Park (23 acres) and Bernie Guagnini Brentwood Park (3.4 acres). Smaller park areas are improved with playground equipment.
Town Park, downtown Harrison About 132 acres of county parks are located in Harrison. Silver Lake Park, a natural reserve, is the largest of these with 95 acres. Saxon Woods Park, near Mamaroneck, has 17 acres in Harrison.
The town/village has approximately 145 acres of reserved parkland that is undeveloped. The major parcels include the former Nike missile base in the northern portion of the Town, and the Klingenstein property on Kenilworth Road which was donated to the community. Eleven acres of the former Nike base is used by the Department of Public Works. Table 2-13 lists the approximately 1,600 acres of parks and open space in the community.
Public Recreation facilities Recreation facilities other than parks are under the jurisdiction of Superintendent of Recreation. A comprehensive and diversified program of activities and facilities are offered, including programs at three community centers.
The Sollazzo Recreation Center, in downtown Harrison, is equipped with a regulation gym, fitness center, game rooms, snack machines and TV. There is a meeting room that will accommodate 50 Sollazzo Recreation Center persons. A multi-purpose outdoor recreation area adjacent to the center is used for street hockey, basketball and volleyball. Given the increasing demand for the services that the Sollazzo Center provides and the age of the building, the town may need to consider repairing or rehabilitating the building or developing a new purpose-built building.
The Veteran's Memorial Building on Halstead Avenue has a large meeting hall. The facility is used primarily as a Senior Citizen drop-in center. The building is available for various community organizations including the Police Department youth division.
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The Leo Mintzer Community Center in Silver Lake has a game room with pool tables, ping pong tables, air hockey and pinball machines, a fitness room, and a lounge used by the West Harrison Senior Citizens. It also includes a children’s day-care center.
There is an abundance of adult softball teams, Babe Ruth baseball teams and Little League programs in Harrison. Due to the proliferation of these teams and in particular the growth in youth baseball and soccer, it has been reported that there is inadequate ball field capacity.
2.11.1 Open Space and Recreation Plan The assessment of the adequacy of open space and recreation in any municipality should rely on detailed surveys and analysis of municipal needs. While the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) does have standards for various facilities, the most recent version of their guidelines, Park, Recreation, Open Space and Greenway Guidelines (1996), calls for an individualized community planning approach. Each community should plan and program facilities based upon identified local need. Harrison should consider an open space initiative, using a volunteer committee. The committee’s charge would be to identify areas that have potential as dedicated open space, to identify funding options for acquiring such land, and to recommend priority actions to the Town Board
In general, NRPA suggests that a park system, at a minimum be composed of a “core” system of parklands, with a total of 6.25 to 10.5 acres of developed open space per 1,000 population. Applying this to Harrison’s population (estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau as 25,553 in 2004), this results in a range from a minimum of 159.7 acres to a maximum of 268.3 acres for developed open space requirements. At present, the sum of existing county parks and town parks (see Table 2-13) is 198.32 acres. This satisfies the minimum requirements but is a shortfall of almost 70 acres from the higher minimum requirement. Although Harrison also has approximately 174 acres of town-owned property reserved for parks, as these parks are created and come on stream, the town’s population is also expected to continue growing. The town’s policy is to accommodate both existing and future requirements for parks and recreation.
New York City Acquired Land The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has acquired an area of 132 acres just south of the Kensico reservoir. All NYCDEP acquired properties are purchased under conditions established by the 1997 Watershed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). NYCDEP decisions regarding recreational use of land in its ownership are based primarily on a case-by-case basis. For example, if a property is small or can only be accessed over private property (right of way), it is not usually opened for public access. Large properties with safe access are usually opened. The 1997 MOA also outlined some considerations as regards recreational use on acquired property, and states that historical recreational uses, including fishing, hiking, and hunting, will be allowed to continue on newly acquired
2-46 Cranberry Lake Park Rye Lake Kensico Reservoir
Forest Lake
Country Club at Purchase
Silver Lake Park SUNY Campus Old Oaks Passidomo Brae Burn Country Club Park Golf Club # Leo Mintzer Center Century Pepsico Country Club Sculpture Garden
Legend Private Open Space # Public Open Space New York City Acquired Watershed Land Grounds open to the Public Maplemoor Golf Club Community Center Cemetery
Westchester # Country Club
Willow Ridge Country Club
Apawamis Golf Club Stables
Veterans Cemetery Saxon Memorial Woods Park Park Sollazzo Recreation # Center Ma Riis Park # Beaver Swamp Brook Bernie Guagnini Veteran’s (Project Home Run) Brentwood Park Memorial Building Pettijohn Park
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 2-11: RECREATION AND OPEN SPACE 0 5,000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses fee property, subject to rules and regulations adopted, or permits issued, by NYCDEP, provided that they neither threaten public safety nor threaten to have an adverse impact on water quality. The town should examine possible public access to this land, in conjunction with NYCDEP.
2.11.2 Private Recreation
One of the unique characteristics of Harrison is the large amount of open space devoted to country clubs and golf courses. These are not open space in the sense of undeveloped land, but nonetheless are critical to the town as large green vistas and visual breathing room. These are all located in residential zoning districts.
Additionally, there are private grounds in the town that are open to the public, namely the SUNY campus and the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Garden at PepsiCo Sculpture Garden at PepsiCo. The public are allowed to enter the PepsiCo grounds and tour the Sculpture Gardens.
The many country clubs in Harrison comprise an important resource for the town in the form of large green vistas and visual breathing room. There is no guarantee, however that these clubs will remain forever as private recreation. The development potential of these properties is significant. Strategies need to be devised to deal with the possibility of their redevelopment, with a focus on mechanisms that provide for their retention, fully or partially, as open space resources in perpetuity, either with their full acreage or part of the land.
Conservation Easement An easement is a voluntary agreement made between the property owner and an appropriate third party, such as a land trust or public agency. The easement is a legal device for conveying the right to enforce restrictions on the use of the land. This allows the purchaser to acquire partial rights to a parcel of land instead of acquiring all of the rights in fee simple (where the owner holds the full bundle of rights). Conservation easements impose restrictions on the land and can readily be used to conserve open space or to protect valuable environmental areas. They have become an increasingly popular tool in land conservation because of the many benefits available to landowners, such as income or property tax benefits (if the easement is donated) or a payment (if the easement is sold). However, easements can be extinguished and so are not perfectly useful.
Overlay and Special Purpose Districts An overlay district is a set of controls for a defined area which are required in addition to the base district's (or districts’) regulations. Overlay zoning is used to protect the character
2-48 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses of an area of special concern especially if the character needing protection extends past defined zoning districts. Overlays are commonly used for historic districts, floodplains, waterfronts, and aquifers. It may be possible for Harrison to apply an overlay district to its country clubs, especially where clubs abut one another, or the resource extends beyond the boundary of the club parcel.
A second option is a special purpose district such as a recreation district. Locally, the Town of Mamaroneck has mapped a recreation district on the Bonnie Briar Country Club. Mamaroneck preceded the rezoning with ten years of very careful data collection and comprehensive planning on which the rezoning was based. This study documented that the lands to be rezoned were subject to serious environmental constraints, not the least of which was flooding. The land was already dedicated to an apparently economic recreational use. Finally, the rezoned properties were located in a heavily populated, affluent area with a demonstrable demand for private recreational services and facilities.
Another type of special purpose district is a variation on a historic district, known as a Special Character District. Harrison can look to three examples in other Westchester municipalities for zoning districts that provide detailed design guidelines for areas with special character. While the guidelines are not mandatory, they clearly inform property owners about the town or village’s preferences regarding how new construction and alterations are expected to mesh with existing buildings and enhance the overall appearance.
In Scarsdale, the commercial village center is designated a special design district. The Planning Board refers all applications in the village center to the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) for its recommendations. The BAR is directed by the zoning code’s design guidelines to review architectural character, landscaping, streetscaping, and lighting.
In Pleasantville’s zoning code, a Special Character Overlay District exists to “encourage the protection, enhancement, perpetuation and reasonable use of land and buildings in the village which have a special historical, architectural, cultural, aesthetic or similar interest or value, as well as to conserve existing neighborhoods which impart a sense of the village’s cultural and historic heritage (.)” The overlay district uses supplementary design guidelines that apply to new construction and alterations of all uses within the district; the design guidelines are enumerated in the zoning text and administered by Pleasantville’s Board of Architectural Review.
In the Town of Lewisboro, five special character districts – Old Goldens Bridge, Cross River, Mead Street, South Salem, and West Lane/Elmwood Road – have been identified in the zoning code. These “encompass relatively large land areas that contain a substantial number of contiguous buildings and common landscape elements reflective of a period of Lewisboro history. Each area presents a unique setting which can be protected while allowing for new development if detailed attention is given to the enhancement of the special characteristics”. While the separate areas have their respective design guidelines for building construction, the general language of the special character overlay district enables the town to also control grade alterations, removal of stone walls, erection of walls or fences, and the removal of live trees. The district controls and the review process are administered by the Architecture and Community Review Council.
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The town could study the possibility of overlay and special purpose districts, and the necessary local laws, and powers and duties of the Planning Board (or other board) that would regulate development in these districts. These would serve to protect areas of town that retain a special character worth preserving.
Open Space in Subdivisions State statutes authorize planning boards to insure that the recreational needs of the occupants of residential subdivisions are met by requiring land in the project to be set aside where a municipal study shows that there is now or will be an unmet demand for recreational facilities in the municipality. The planning board may require a financial contribution in lieu of a land reservation but only where it specifically determines that, in a particular case, the subdivision is not of a sufficient size or adequate character to create a suitable recreational area for the subdivision’s occupants.
The controlling case on this issue, Bayswater Realty v the Planning Board of the Town of Lewisboro (1990) held that a planning board must make two findings before it may exercise its authority to require a payment in lieu of setting aside park or recreation lands. First, the planning board must determine whether a “proper case” exists for imposing the requirement by evaluating the present and future needs for park and recreational facilities in the town. Second, the planning board must determine whether the proposed plat contains adequate and suitable space for recreational facilities. Only if it determines that a “proper case” exists and that the plat does not contain such space may the planning board require the subdivider to pay money as a substitute.
In relation to open space subdivisions, in the Bayswater case the court held that in a “proper case” where it has made the necessary findings, the planning board is not precluded from exercising both its powers under the town law authorizing cluster subdivision ordinance and the town law requiring that a developer set aside land for recreation purposes or pay fees for recreation.
2-50 Comprehensive Plan Harrison 2006 DRAFT Chapter 2: Town-wide Analyses
Table 2-13: Parks and Open Space Type of Park Name of Park Acreage in Subtotal Harrison County Park Lands Maplemoor Golf Course 15.3 Saxon Woods Park 17 Silver Lake Park 84 Municipal Parks Veteran’s Memorial Park 23 Passidomo Park 48 Smaller Town Wilding Park 1 Operated Ma Riss Park 2 Recreational facilities Pettijohn Park 1 Bernie Guagnini Brentwood Park 3.4 Congress park playground 2 West Harrison Community Center 1.4 Rose Avenue Tot Lot 0.22 198.32 Other Open Space Watershed Properties 132 Municipally owned Nike Site (Total of 33 – of which 22 for rec.) 22 property reserved for West Street Site (East side) 23 Parks Klingenstein Property 17.5 Land that adjoins Brentwood Youth 16 Memorial Park Land adjoining Passidomo Park 43 Site at Emerson Avenue and South road 4.3 Land adjoining Veterans Memorial Park 16 West side of west street 13.8 Beaver Swamp Brook – Project Home Run 18 173.6 Private Recreation Apawanis Country Club 67 Sites Brae Burn Country Club 152 Century Country Club 181 Old Oaks Country Club 186 Westchester Country Club 328 Willow Ridge Golf Club 122 Country Club at Purchase 196 1,232 Total 1603.92
2-51 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
3.1 Harrison Central Business District
The Harrison Central Business District (CBD) is delineated as shown on Figure 3-1, CBD Aerial. This encompasses the area between the intersection of Broadway and Halstead Avenue to the west, Orchard Street and Harrison Avenue to the north, Grant and Halstead Avenues to the east and Park Avenue and Harrison Avenue to the south. As outlined in the 1988 Plan, this area serves four important functions: as the center for municipal government and the location of many community facilities and services; as a commuter transportation center; as an important housing resource offering a range of housing types; and as the largest retail area in the town.
Land Uses
A detailed land use survey was carried out in February 2006. As can be seen from Figure 3-2A, Land Use, the CBD is characterized by a wide variety of residential, retail, restaurants, mixed commercial, parking lots, institutional, industrial uses and parks. The cruciform layout created by Harrison and Halstead Avenues forms the basic structure of the CBD, and both avenues are characterized by a broad range of uses. The downtown contains three distinctive areas based on use; 1) the area north of Halstead, east of Harrison, containing the town hall, the library, the Sollazzo Center, significant parking lots and a park, 2) the area east of Oakland Street which is characterized by industrial, mixed commercial, preserved open space, and vacant land being redeveloped as a park, and 3) the remainder of the CBD which is a mixed-use area. The Metro-North Railroad bisects the area, constituting a significant barrier to north-south connections, with Harrison Avenue being the only street and the Metro-North overpass as the only pedestrian connection that traverses it in the CBD. The commuter parking lot serving the station is also a significant land use in the area.
Figure 3-2B illustrates that Harrison has a very walkable CBD. In this figure, restaurants and retail uses have been separated out from the rest of the land uses, and also building footprints are shown, rather than the entire lot. This demonstrates that restaurants are very well represented, with the largest concentration along Halstead Avenue. The light orange color in Figure 3-2B indicates lots that are solely in restaurant uses, but in some cases the darker orange also contains a restaurant, as one of a number of businesses operating on one lot.
Retail Uses in the CBD
3-1
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T S W D O A D V A V E E A M HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-1: AERIAL HARRISON CBD 0 300 ft WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: NEW YORK STATE INTERACTIVE MAPPING GATEWAY, 2004 Train Station
LAND USE LEGEND Residential Retail Restaurant Commercial (Mixed) Offices Vacant Parking Lot Open Space Community/Institutional Industrial
CBD Town Boundary
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-2A: LAND USE IN HARRISON CBD 0 300 ft WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS 1000 ft
LAND USE LEGEND
Retail Restaurant Commercial (Mixed)
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-2B: COMMERCIAL DISTRICT 0 300 ft WESTCHESTER COUNTY Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Retail uses are scattered within the CBD, mainly along Halstead Avenue, with the largest concentration present in the Harrison Shopping Center on the corner of Halstead and Oakland Avenues. However, in this specific area there is less of a retail presence than one would normally expect in a downtown. In general, the retail stores are small-scale, and cumulatively comprise a relatively small square footage for a downtown.
The town wants to accommodate a mix of business types in the downtown. Currently, the range of stores lacks diversity. The potential exists for a vibrant commercial core, as the town is home to a large population of high earners, and host to a large volume of commuters and reverse commuters that travel through the downtown to the train station on a daily basis; however this is not being capitalized upon at present. A reasonable diversity is necessary to properly serve local residents and employees, and to sustain the vitality of the surrounding residential community. The Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals should continue to be aware of this need, as applications come before them. Furthermore, good urban design is required. A review of the zoning districts and the area and bulk schedule (Table of Dimensional Regulations) could be undertaken to ensure that the requirements lead to buildings and stores of the correct size for the downtown with perhaps some variation between Halstead and the side streets.
A Downtown Revitalization Target Area was established in 1992 but no longer appears useful. This should be reviewed to ensure the appropriateness of its provisions to today’s downtown.
Zoning
Zoning in the downtown reflects a mix of business and residential zoning; Figure 3-3A illustrates the zoning districts and Figure 3-3B outlines the use regulations. There are a total of four business districts, within which the only residential development permitted is dwelling units over first floor non-residential uses. The PB - Professional Business district is centered on the Town Hall and the train station. This district allows for professional offices and office support services with limited retail activities and no restaurants. The CBD - Central Business District is located to the south of the rail line, along both Halstead and Harrison Avenues. This allows a variety of retail goods and services in the downtown. The NB – Neighborhood Business district is located on the east side of Harrison Avenue, south of Colonial Street stretching eastwards as far as Soulard Street. This provides for retail businesses and services serving local needs. The fourth business district is the GC – General Commercial district, which provides for general retail businesses and services but excludes restaurants, and this is located in the far east of the CBD, along the south side of Osborn Street. Further analysis is required to determine if four separate districts are necessary to serve the commercial core.
The largest residential district in the CBD is B – Two Family Residence District, but there are also R-75 and R-50 which are One Family Residence Districts. One block containing Newport Towers is located in the MF – Multi Family Residence District. Finally, two blocks are located in a mixed-use district - the MFR – Multi Family limited retail district which provides for a range of residential uses in conjunction with offices and retail businesses and services. Marion Court Condominiums, with retail on the ground floor, is located in this district.
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D AK GRA S NT SRCSIN ISTRICTS GIS ZONING LEGEND Legend S S S S R R R R R R R P N M M G G C B
Town Boundary CBD R-75 - One Family Residence R-50 - One Family Residence R-2.5 - One Family Residence R-2 - One Family Residence R- 1/3 - One Family Residence R-1/2 - One Family Residence R-1 - One Family Residence PB - Professional Business NB - Neighborhood Business MFR - Multi Family Limited Retail MF - Multi Family Residential GC - General Commercial GA - Garden Apartment CBD - Central Business District B - Two Family Residence
TAY O L SB
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R N D OWNTOWN 0 300 ft H ARRISON HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-3B: TABLE OF USE REGULATIONS
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: HARRISON ZONING CODE Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Non-conforming Uses
Industrial/ commercial buildings on Grant Avenue Daltile building on Oakland Avenue
The B-district contains a number of non-conforming uses. The first is the industrial/commercial site east of Oakland Avenue containing Superior Heating and Cooling, the Berlanti building, Daltile on Oakland and Harrison Auto Sales and Stone and Landscape Supply on Grant Avenue. The second is Prestige Auto Salon on the corner of Oakland and Soulard. The third non-conforming uses in the study area are the offices on Harrison Avenue north of Orchard Street. Outside the CBD, but in the downtown, the Fraioli and Quigley Moving Company and the Chevrolet sales garage are also both non- conforming uses.
The industrial/commercial site east of Oakland Avenue could offer an appropriate location for residential development, particularly with the completion of the Project Home- Run park. The possibility of changing the zoning of this area to a higher-density residential district - possibly MFR, multi-family residential – should be considered. This would serve as a signal and incentive for the property owners to improve and convert the area to residential use, as per zoning.
Physical Assets
A pleasant streetscape is essential in creating a good impression of the downtown. In recent years the town undertook some streetscape improvements, centered on Halstead Avenue, which included installing uniform historically-styled light fixtures, uniform street furniture, curb extensions with canopy street trees, and striped crosswalks. The extent of these improvements is delineated on Figure 3-4.
The connection between the Town Hall and the library and the retail core of Halstead Avenue has been improved since the 1988 plan, with the MTA’s construction of a covered pedestrian bridge linking the parking lot on the Halstead Avenue side across the railway tracks to the parking lot at the old train station on Heineman Place. This has vastly improved the pedestrian connection between these two separated components of the downtown.
3-8 1
4 3 2 5 8 7 6* 16 9 19 17 15 18 11 21 20
12 14 LEGEND 24 23 Trees 22 13 Streetscape Improvement Buildings of Architectural Interest * Clock Focal Point HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-4: PHYSICAL ASSETS 0 300 ft WESTCHESTER COUNTY Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
The CBD contains numerous examples of buildings of architectural interest, and these are also indicated on Figure 3-4. These include Chase Bank, the fire station, the old train station, Marion Court condominiums, Veteran’s Memorial Building, and the old theater. Photographs of these buildings are included in Figures 3-4A and 3-4B.
An appealing downtown can attract the local community and provide a viable alternative to neighboring competing centers such as White Plains, Greenwich, Rye, and Mamaroneck. The physical appearance of the downtown could continue to be improved, and the entrances to the downtown better demarcated, in order to provide a sense of identity.
Harrison Avenue
Harrison Avenue, situated in the heart of the downtown, is not capitalizing on its strengths at present. This is a narrow corridor, with parking on only one side of the street. Very few of the businesses have their own parking available, and this is a significant constraint. The old theater which offers a significant reuse and redevelopment opportunity is located here, which is a building of some architectural merit. The boutique character of this street needs to be retained, but the street requires improvements in its appearance and retail vitality.
Harrison Avenue is presently located in the CBD zone – Central Business District, which does not allow for residential uses. Between Halstead and Park Avenues, Harrison Street could be a very pleasant, mixed-use street with boutique-sized stores with the appropriate zoning solution with design guidelines. One such approach is called form-based coding where the zoning controls uses, bulk, exterior design of the building, and the building and lots relation to the rest of the street.
3-10 1. Old Train Station 2. Art Nails, Halstead Ave. 3. Magic Carpets
4. Uncle Henry’s 5. Butler Brothers 6. Belle Cleaners
7. Oishinbo Grocery 8. Flower Market & Cleaners 9. Chase Bank
10. 241 A Harrison Avenue 11. Old Theater 12. Emilios Restaurant
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-4A: BUILDINGS OF ARCHITECTURAL INTEREST
WESTCHESTER COUNTY 13. Converted Residence 14. Fire House 15. Harrison Ave. on Harrison Avenue
16. Quiznos 17. Halstead Avenue 18. Vacant on Halstead Ave.
19. Post Office 20. House on Halstead Ave. 21. Marion Court Condos
22. St. Gregory’s Church 23. Community House 24. Veteran’s Memorial
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-4B: BUILDINGS OF ARCHITECTURAL INTEREST
WESTCHESTER COUNTY Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Harrison Avenue Harrison Avenue Halstead Avenue parking lot
Traffic and Parking
The main problems in the CBD are traffic speeds in residential areas, and pedestrian safety in the commercial area. Numerous parking conflicts are created in the CBD as a result of its multiple roles. As a commuter center, commuters require long-term parking near the train station; as a retail center, short-term parking is required for shoppers; and as a residential center, long-term off-street parking is required for residents.
A critical site is the large MTA-owned parking lot located at the train station with access from Halstead Avenue. This centrally located property, which provides necessary parking for shoppers and commuters, could also be utilized to strengthen the connection between the town hall and library and the rest of the downtown, and to consolidate the retail base along Halstead Avenue.
One proposal put forward, originally suggested in the 1988 plan, has been the construction of a parking structure in the existing parking lot, taking advantage of the natural topographic slope into the station. Commercial space could be constructed under as part of this structure, at street level on Halstead Avenue.
The proposed parking structure offers an opportunity for the town to implement a parking management strategy. Some aspects of the strategy might include:
A priority system that will encourage shoppers to park-and-walk. First priority should always go to shopper parking. The most attractive spaces for shoppers must be reserved for short-term parking; enforcement of short parking times must be enforced. If shoppers cannot park in a convenient location, they will drive elsewhere. Tools to create parking turnover: establish a short-term core, enforcement of parking duration limits (such as two hours), and graduated fines (where the first three parking fines in a 12-month period are at the same level as today, and the next fines become double or triple to discourage repeat offenders). Beyond the short-term core, relax parking regulations to allow more long-term parking. Review the effectiveness of the waiver of parking requirements in the Downtown Revitalization Target Area and the Halstead Avenue Commercial Corridor, where the parking requirements do not apply for the first 10 spaces. Merchant permit parking: evaluate a possible merchant permitting parking
3-13 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
program whereby merchants and their employees are granted a permit for a town-owned lot designated for them. This has the advantage of removing these users from on-street parking.
Community and Public Services
Harrison CBD contains the largest concentration of community services in the town, including the Veteran’s Memorial Building, the Sollazzo Recreation Center, the town hall, post office, and the library, in addition to religious and educational facilities and the Metro-Norht train station. Some of these community facilities require upgrades and improvements, if not replacements. At present, the municipal building is the only facility that is expanding, with the court moving into the former train station.
The Sollazzo Recreation Center is in need of repair, and the library is in need of expansion. Improvements to, or expansions or replacement of these two buildings could be considered jointly to improve the public area north of the railroad lines. The plan for the Halstead Avenue commuter parking lot could include a consideration of a municipal use.
Parks
Harrison CBD is well served by parks, and will be better served in the future with the completion of Project Home Run. However, the CBD lacks an inviting, accessible public space in its center. The two main open spaces in the downtown, the Amelia Earhart (Station) Park and the Halstead Avenue Park, are both under-utilized. Amelia Earhart Park is separated from the bulk of downtown by the railroad, and Halstead Avenue park is isolated, surrounded by the railroad to the rear, parking lots to either side, and Halstead Avenue to the front.
The Halstead Avenue Park should be improved to offer an inviting, accessible and well- supervised open space to the public in the interests of enhancing the entire experience of the downtown.
Housing
Housing in the CBD is mainly comprised of two-family residences. There are a few multi- family residential units along Halstead Avenue, one being Marion Court Condominiums in the west and Newport Towers in the east. There are also dwelling units over first-floor non-residential uses along Halstead and Harrison Avenues.
Proposed Developments and Potential Improvements (see Figure 3-5)
CVS CVS Corporation proposes to convert the building at the northwest corner of Halstead and Harrison Avenues to a CVS with a drive-up prescription window.
3-14 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Justice Hall In 2004 Harrison acquired the historic Metro-North train station building on Sunnyside Place. The town is renovating and expanding the building to provide a new town court and meeting facility. This will include a parking deck for 85 spaces.
Project Home Run As outlined in Chapter 2, the town is currently developing a recreational project, known as Project Home Run for the area along Oakland Avenue, adjoining Beaver Swamp Brook. Preliminary plans have been drawn up covering an 18 acre site, and providing parkland, youth baseball and soccer fields, walking trails and a nature preserve, in addition to infrastructure improvements to Oakland Avenue.
Figure 3-5 indicates some potential improvement sites. This represents a mix of underutilized or aged buildings which should be improved in the interests of an attractive and viable downtown. Gateways are also indicated on this figure. These are important entrances and intersections, which offer the visitor their first impression of the downtown.
Harrison Library Solazzo Center St. Gregory the Great school
3-15 1
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12 14 LEGEND 24 23 Trees 22 13 Streetscape Improvement Buildings of Architectural Interest * Clock Focal Point HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-4: PHYSICAL ASSETS 0 300 ft WESTCHESTER COUNTY LIBRARY RELOCATION?
JUSTICE HALL
PARKING DECK
C.V.S.
THEATER PROJECT HOME RUN
INDUSTRIAL SITE RE-USE STUDY
LEGEND Development/Improvement Sites Possible Redevelopment Areas Gateways
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-5: DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS & POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS 0 300 ft WESTCHESTER COUNTY Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
3.2 Downtown Harrison and Southern Harrison
3.2.1 Downtown Harrison
For this plan, downtown Harrison is defined as the mainly residential area south of I-95, surrounding the CBD. Although this area is centered on the CBD and has a strong relationship to it, the larger area has a distinctive set of characteristics and issues.
Land Uses
This area is mainly residential, with commercial uses limited to Halstead Avenue and a smaller component at the intersection of Calvert Street and Broadway. The area contains a number of parks, which provide recreational opportunities for residents. These include the Bernie Guagnini Park, at Webster and Adelphi, and the Pettijohn Park at the corner of Glenwood and Crotona Streets. The Project Home Run Park, at the eastern edge of the downtown, will provide additional sports fields for the community.
The 1988 plan addressed the issue of the non-conforming offices located along Harrison Avenue, north of Calvert Street. These originated as “home professional offices” but can no longer be classified as such, as in some cases the entire building has been converted to professional offices. An overlay district was introduced following up on the 1988 plan, and then rescinded, as the dimensional requirements were found to be too inflexible. These businesses should remain as non-conforming uses, but should not be allowed to expand.
Zoning
The residential zoning districts in the area are mainly B – Two Family Residence District and also one family residence districts (R-75, R-1/3, R-50). There are also some limited areas of GA- Garden Apartments, at the southern edge of the town, north of Halstead. The commercial uses along Halstead are located in both the MFR- Multi-Family Limited Retail and NB-Neighborhood Business Districts, and the PB- Professional Business District stretches along Calvert Street from the town hall to the intersection at Crotona Street.
Physical Character
The downtown is an attractive residential area, offering a pleasant place to live. Its close proximity to the services of the CBD is an advantage. The house types range from large one-family residences to two- or more family dwellings, offering a choice to potential Harrison residents not available elsewhere in town except for West Harrison. In addition, although the area has a broadly uniform character, the diversity in architectural styles of the houses is interesting and adds to the quality of the area. However, the traditional modest scale of downtown Harrison is being chipped away.
3-17 SB 100 E S Legend T B Two Family Residence SB-0 CBD Central Business District GA Garden Apartment District N C OOD L R GC General Commercial District IRONW WO ESSTC S HESTER MFR Multi-family Residence W AV D E S Multi-family Limited Retail R T H C T H R E NB Neighborhood Business District S O T E W R L PB Professional Business District I E RD X N Y PARK E POLL R-1 One-Family Residence K R-1/2 One-Family Residence R-1/3 One-Family Residence R-2.5 One-Family Residence V LAK R-2 One-Family Residence ORE A BILTM ESI D R-50 One-Family Residence R-1 E D R-75 One-Family Residence R
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SB-0 Special Business Districts I N G O RT H SB-1 H L D AN R ST SB-100 E D
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HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-6: ZONING IN SOUTHERN AND DOWNTOWN HARRISON 0 2,250 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Dutch barn-style house Traditional two family house
Most streets remain pleasant, quiet, and leafy and are lined by attractive, well-kept houses. But out-of-scale development on some lots (where the new houses result from teardowns, and are substantially larger than their older neighbors), the lack of tree planting or perimeter landscaping in any new development, and the increase in traffic, and associated parking conflicts were issues of concern identified during the planning process. When older, small houses are replaced by larger houses, which are out of proportion to the existing context, there is often little room for landscaping. Although most of these are where the development is simply maximizing the lot coverage, there are also instances where the development is not in compliance with the code. There is at present no landscaping ordinance in the town, and therefore no minimum requirements for landscaping any new development. In some areas the streets of Harrison are losing their green appearance. This results in a negative impact aesthetically on the neighborhood residential character, specifically the loss of shade and privacy.
Examples of new development in downtown
As discussed in Chapter 2, some additional controls could be added to the existing controls to better regulate development.
3-19 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Traffic
As outlined in Chapter 2, Harrison has excellent road transportation links, in particular I- 684, I-287 and the Hutchinson River Parkway. However, congestion on these roads leads to traffic using the streets in the downtown as a short-cut. The traffic calming measures as suggested in Chapter 2 should be considered for some streets in the downtown.
3.2.2 Southern Harrison
Between downtown Harrison to the south and Purchase and West Harrison to the north lie many neighborhoods. This area, stretching from I-87 (New England Thruway) to I-287 (Cross Westchester Expressway) holds the neighborhoods of Sunnyridge, Sterling Ridge, Westchester Country Club, Winfield and Polly Park Road, among others that have no place name.
Three zoning districts cover this large area: R-1, R-1/2 and R-1/3.
R-1 District Neighborhood Character
This is by far the largest zoning district in Harrison and contains a diversity of lots and uses. R-1 is a One Family Residence District, which is intended to provide for single family housing on large lots. The minimum lot size is one acre; the area is largely built according to this density, with some exceptions discussed below.
The R-1 zoning has traditionally resulted in quiet, pleasant, low-density residential neighborhoods. The houses are generally proportionate to the lot size. The R-1 zone has a maximum lot coverage of 15% and a height restriction of two and a half stories.
House in Palma Court New House on West Street
There are numerous examples of non-conforming lots in the R-1 district. Three areas where these are concentrated are 1) around the Westchester Country Club, 2) along North Street on Fenimore Street and 3) in the southwest, in the area bounded by Glendale Lane and Winfield Avenue – see Figure 3-7.
3-20 N N A A A E G SO V N M Legend HI TC P U U H RC D R H Non-conforming lot A S IGH E R-2.5 E S L B Two Family Residence T R E T S CBD Central Business District E AK LN W GA Garden Apartment District RED O WESTCHESTE GC General Commercial District R AV SB-0 MFR Multi-family Residence W E S TC Multi-family Limited Retail H E S LN T OOD E NB Neighborhood Business District IRONW R A C V R PB Professional Business District O S D S R-1 One-Family Residence R W E H S T T R C R-1/2 One-Family Residence H O ES W L T I E R-1/3 One-Family Residence N R R T D E ARK R E K LLYP R PO X
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R-2.5 One-Family Residence B V TA M ON
TI M R-2 One-Family Residence BEL
R-50 One-Family Residence P P U
W A R E R N C K R-75 One-Family Residence D H L O D A R-1 A K V R E SE ESI R SB-0 Special Business District R D D S E T D D R SB-1 Special Business District R E G ID H SB-100 Special Business District R D B I E G T R LL H N N E A R V L U A SB-35 Special Business District S O E A B N E S A L V D P O N O R R D TH ST PL LEY VAL RD D OR N TF L S RA TE T F S E ET RL S IN N
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HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-7: NON-CONFORMING LOTS 0 2500 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Traffic
The streets in these neighborhoods were not intended for large volumes of through traffic. Some streets are quite narrow, and if cars park on the street, this can cause problems for cars trying to pass each other. Park Drive, Indian Trail and Brentwood were cited by residents for speeding and lack of traffic enforcement.
R-1/2 District Neighborhood Character
R-1/2 is a One Family Residence District, which is intended to provide for single family housing on small lots. This is a small zoning district, located along River Terrace, Sayford Street, Saddletree Lane and Westwood Drive. Though small, this area is also distinctive for its traditional character. It is as quiet and pleasant as the R-1 areas, but at a compact scale.
The houses are generally proportionate to the one-half acre lot size. The R-1/2 zone has a maximum lot coverage of 20% and a height restriction of two and a half stories (30 feet).
House on Saddletree Lane New house on West Street
R-1/3 District Neighborhood Character
The R-1/3 District is a One Family Residence District, with the minimum lot size one-third of an acre, or 14,520 square feet. This district is located in two areas: just north of I-87, either side of Harrison Avenue as far north as Cooper Street, and also a pocket area east of Highland Street, along Highland Park and Highland Ridge. These areas are also quiet and pleasant.
The houses are generally proportionate to the lot size. The R-1/3 zone has a maximum lot coverage of 20% and a height restriction of two and a half stories (26 feet).
3-22 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
House on Crawford Street House on Bates Street
Development Potential
Within each of the three districts, there are lots which contain development potential. In the R-1 district, there are a number of lots in excess of two acres. Some of these are facilities such as the schools, the synagogue, St. Vincent’s Hospital and other non- residential uses. Other lots containing more than two acres are in residential use. They could in theory be subdivided to allow one or more dwellings to be constructed under the current zoning dimensional requirements.
Within the other two districts, there are lots which have development potential, by virtue of their acreage being more than twice the minimum required lot size. These are all indicated on Figure 3.8.
Recommendations
Similarly to what is occurring elsewhere in Harrison, these districts are experiencing the tear down of older housing and their replacement by newer dwellings which are frequently built out to the setbacks, maximum building coverage, and height allowed given the zoning code. Bulky houses are a concern for two reasons: 1) they are out of scale with traditional housing patterns, and 2) residents feel that overdevelopment of lots disrupts privacy, open space, and quietude.
The town must ensure any infill development in these neighborhoods is compatible with its context and with the existing neighborhood character. Two methods for preserving the established scale and character of the neighborhood are:
Introducing minimum landscaping requirements, as discussed under the downtown section.
Modifying zoning controls to limit to some degree the development of these bulky houses; this issue is discussed earlier, as a town-wide issue.
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HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-8: LOTS WITH POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL 0 2500 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
3.3 West Harrison: Silver Lake and Park Lane
The neighborhood of Silver Lake is located along the eastern shore of Silver Lake (also known as St. Mary’s Lake). It is bounded to the south by the Cross-Westchester Expressway and Westchester Avenue, to the west by the City of White Plains, and to the east by an area of steep slopes. To the north, the boundary is less clearly defined, but High Ridge Road marks a change from higher density development, close to Silver Lake’s commercial core, to a less dense, suburban area. Figure 3-9 shows an aerial view of the area. The area has been known as Silver Lake, when it was developed in the early 1900s as a resort, and even East White Plains, a name which still appears on old Hagstrom maps. The comprehensive plan refers to this community as Silver Lake.
The community is contained within these strong road and natural boundaries, with few roads connecting it to other parts of Harrison or White Plains. The entries are the Lake Street-Boulevard connection (from the north), Underhill Avenue and Silver Lake Road (off Westchester Avenue, from the south), and Lake Street coming in from White Plains to the west.
View south along Lake Street Lake Street Quarry
The neighborhood of Park Lane stretches from the built up area of downtown Silver Lake (High Ridge Road) as far north as the town boundary with North Castle. The area is centered on the long spine of Park Lane, and other main streets include Buckout Road and Forest Lake Road. Since 1988, this area has been witness to large scale development in accordance with mid-1980s subdivision approvals.
Park Lane has significant environmental features in the form of steep slopes, wetlands, Rye Lake/Kensico Reservoir, Silver Lake Park and Forest Lake. Cannon Merritt Hill, a Harrison landmark, is included in Silver Lake Park. Two county-designated Critical Environmental Areas (CEAs) are located here: Kensico Basin CEA and Silver Lake Park CEA. The Department of Public Works (DPW) operates a facility at the former Nike base off Lake Street.
Land Uses For the plan, a land use survey was carried out in March 2006. As can be seen from Figure 3-10, the commercial area of West Harrison is very limited, centered on
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: NEW YORK STATE INTERACTIVE MAPPING GATEWAY, 2004 LAND USE LEGEND Residential Retail Commercial (Mixed) Vacant Parking Lot Community/Institutional Open Space Undeveloped Land
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-10: SILVER LAKE LAND USE 0 750 ft WESTCHESTER COUNTY Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Passidomo Park and Silver Lake Park, along Lake Street. This area contains a mix of uses, including restaurants, retail, services, and the West Harrison firehouse. At the time of the land use survey, there was one vacant storefront on this main commercial street; a few others businesses appear in decline. Retail and commercial uses exist outside Lake Street: a large vacant property was noted on the corner of Columbus and Madison, formerly a grocery store. A small cluster of businesses exist on Underhill Avenue around Harrison Street: a restaurant, automotive businesses, a deli, and a dentist.
Park Lane is mainly residential, but there is one commercial nursery (Hillside Farm). The town operates the DPW facility here to the north of Park Lane, south of Rye Lake, containing two water tanks and a pumping house for the Water District and a fire training center. The future use of the former 33-acre Nike base should provide for both the best interests of Harrison’s DPW and the recreational needs of the surrounding community. An examination of the current recreational needs should be undertaken in an effort to find the best use for the site. DPW needs a total of 11 acres which leaves 22 for recreation.
There is a quarry/stoneyard is located on Lake Street just south of Barnes Lane. The Lake Street Quarry is located in the R-1 zoning district, but has been operating since before zoning was adopted, sometime around the early 1920s. While it continues to operate under a NYSDEP mining permit and some limited mining is still being carried out, the yard is primarily a commercial stone yard. The owner appears to be looking for a new use for the site or a new owner for the existing business. While he has not made formal application for either a zone change or an as-of-right residential use, he has considered such new commercial uses as a plant nursery and a high-end food market with ancillary restaurant. The local community has disagreed. The planning process found a strong desire for the current suburban residential character of Lake Street to be maintained, requiring that all future development on the quarry site be undertaken according to the existing zoning. The site, however, is not naturally an attractive one for single-family houses, such as the ones built in recent years in the larger area. More discussion of realistic options is required.
Harrison Fire House Leo Mintzner Center
The four main community uses in West Harrison are the library, fire station, Leo Mintzner Center, and the parks, all of which are very centrally located. West Harrison is served by two schools, the Samuel J. Preston Elementary and St. Anthony of Padua R.C. School. These schools are near one another and are located well-within the residential part of the
3-28 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses community. They appear to be well-situated to allow walking to school. The community uses vary in their condition. The West Harrison Fire Company No. 1 firehouse is a handsome building, appearing well-maintained. In contrast, the Leo Mintzer Center, a former school, is in bad repair and requires renovations. It houses the local community center, and provides a meeting place for the West Harrison Senior Citizen Club and Town Board meetings. A 2004 Master Plan for John A. Passidomo Park notes that the center serves “a multitude of users who are competing for space.” The plan recommends that soon a decision be made on refurbishment, relocation, or redevelopment. Redevelopment of the site could yield a mixed-use building with senior citizen housing and a senior center, along with a general use community center, and other appropriate uses.
West Harrison contains an interesting mix of residences. In Silver Lake, most are one and two-family residences, but there are some multi-family units near the downtown - for example on the corner of Pearl and Harrison. Garden apartments, stretching along Columbus and Underhill Avenues, provide multi-family housing without being out-of- scale with the nearby houses or blocking views of the lake and park. Park Lane has a suburban character with a semi-rural setting bestowed upon it by the presence of Silver Lake Park, Forest Lake and Rye Lake. Forest Lake is owned by the Park Lane Homeowner’s Association. Rye Lake is owned by New York City.
Multi-Family residence Garden Apartments
Parks
Of the two parks, Silver Lake Park encircles the northern end of the lake, and lies within both Harrison and White Plains. Passidomo Park is Harrison’s own, and lies along the lake’s narrow southern edge. Passidomo Park is 48 acres, with about fourteen in active use now, or planned for active use. The park’s prospect overlooking the lake is shaded by trees and an important group of civic memorials. The memorials demonstrate a long commitment to remembering events and persons: the World War II Memorial has been joined in more recent years by a September 11 Memorial and an Arbor Day Memorial. The park also provides the community with sitting and viewing places and a renovated sports field. The field has synthetic turf and is suitable for baseball, football, lacrosse, and soccer. Other planned capital improvements, resulting from the 2004 Passidomo Park Master Plan, will be an expanded recreation center, new basketball and tennis courts, a lakefront walk, gazebo, and streetscaping (new sidewalks, benches, street lights). The
3-29 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses project also entails a walkway from the Leo Mintzer Center directly to the Lake Street shops and Veterans Memorial Plaza. Once completed, most of the park will remain undisturbed open space, with some trails, while the land closest to houses, stores, and community buildings will serve the community’s recreation needs better.
World War II Memorial View of Passidomo Park
The plan notes that despite the capital improvements to Passidomo Park, the lake itself required attention. In recent years, the lake has eutrophied – where an overgrowth of algae overcomes water quality. The appearance of Silver Lake is intrinsic to the identity and pleasant character of West Harrison. Measures to combat water quality problems need to be devised and implemented, in concert with the City of White Plains and the county, through the institution of the Watershed Advisory Committee 3. Possible measures, as discussed in Chapter 2, include:
Geese and duck control: the fowl population must be controlled. Construction of sediment ponds Growth of a hedge buffer around the lake’s edge Winter water draw-down to fatally expose the weeds to the atmosphere Introduce sterile grass carp, which ingest aquatic plants
Zoning
The zoning in Silver Lake is mainly a mix of B – Two Family Residence District and R-75 – One Family Residence District. The R-75 District is bounded by Harrison Street to the north and Columbus Avenue to the west. The commercial zoning in West Harrison is NB – Neighborhood Business District. The commercial area is L-shaped, occupying the south and east sides of Lake Street, fronting the park, covering approximately 19 acres. There is one significant area of non-conforming uses along Underhill Avenue, including the block between Daniel and Harrison streets, which contains Sal’s Automotive and Clark’s Towing. This is which is currently the subject of a subdivision application that would replace the towing use with conforming two family residences.
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W E HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-11: ZONING IN WEST HARRISON 0 2000 ft WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
The zoning in Park Lane is almost entirely R-1 (minimum lot size one acre), with one small area of R-75 (minimum lot size 7,500 sq feet) located along Rockland and Woodland Streets adjoining White Plains. As discussed earlier, the Park Lane subdivision is now nearly built out. Applications from homeowners can now be anticipated for decks, swimming pools, fences, and other accessory structures. Given the topography in this area, it may not be easy to site such structures; variances may be required. The town should monitor this.
Silver Lake Business Area Character
Design is strongly linked to identity: Lake Street has the potential to become an even more pleasant commercial core, offering retail and service opportunities to residents and visitors alike, but at present is not living up to this potential. The appearance of the business district is crucial to the creation of an identity and can contribute to commercial success. Lake Street has a very ‘green’ feel due to its picturesque location. The parks provide an attractive setting for Lake Street’s businesses and pedestrian traffic. This is further enhanced Good example of a storefront by the street trees lining the sidewalks. There are a number of noteworthy buildings in West Harrison, including the Fire House, the Bank of New York and Donohue’s store. These buildings date from an earlier architectural era and have not been modernized or had their design character stripped away. These buildings could serve as good examples for any new development. Two good examples of appropriately designed store fronts are Monica Chimes Florists, and also the uniform awnings and appearance of the building housing Scoops, the laundry, and the dry cleaners. This latter building is not by itself noteworthy, but has been tenanted with a good eye towards creating a clean and attractive appearance. Other possible actions that would enhance Silver Lake’s business area’s appearance are:
Developing Design Guidelines, specific to West Harrison, to promote development that enhances and reinforces its character.
Encouraging merchants and landlords to assume greater responsibility for the maintenance, cleanliness, and overall ambiance of their establishments. The town can provide an incentive by levying fines for non-compliance.
Creating a new sign law to promote the use of signs that are aesthetically pleasing, of appropriate scale, and integrated with surrounding buildings and landscape.
Exploring a financially feasible method of placing existing and all new overhead utility wires for cable, electricity, and telephone services underground.
3-32 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Beyond appearance, the local community reports that there is insufficient variety in the retail and services. The community wants a diversity of businesses, to sustain the vitality of the center and to properly serve the surrounding community. Specifically, there is a desire for a grocery and a bakery.
Finally, there is the risk that West Harrison’s commercial core on Lake Street will blur into the separate cluster further west on Underhill Avenue. The plan recommends that the core retain a distinct and intact identity, in the interest of sustaining a center which attracts West Harrison residents. Likewise, the Underhill commercial area should not expand, particularly with business creep into former residences. The Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals should continue to be aware of this, as applications come before them.
Parking and Traffic
Parking difficulties in Silver Lake restrict the full use and potential of its downtown core. The capacity of the main parking lot is seasonally inadequate. There is the problem of the use of short-term parking spaces by long-term users; and on-street parking spaces in residential areas are used by non-Harrison residents. Parking enforcement is critical if these issues are to be resolved. The enforcement of the short-term rule against long-term users is essential if this is to be resolved. The newly created Parking Authority should examine this issue. Where on-street parking spaces in residential areas are being used by non-Harrison residents, the town should restrict parking in municipal lots to residents only. A solution to this would be a permitting system, whereby residents would be provided with one or two permits per house. Furthermore a permit should be required for parking at both the park and the Mintzner Center.
The 1988 Master Plan Update identified the parking issue as being critical and recommendations were made regarding the design and layout of the parking lot. The main parking lot in West Harrison is located adjacent to Passidomo Park, along Lake Street. The parking lot has been expanded and improved since the 1988 Plan, with a new, lower level addition. Although the capacity of the expanded lot is large (approximately 90 spaces) it is inadequate to serve the peak hours of restaurant use each evening, and some restaurants are forced to use valet parking. In addition, there is a seasonal element to the problem, as in summer the park is more heavily utilized, and so is the parking lot. The current Master Plan for Passidomo Park and the business district does involve improving the park and the streetscape, which includes providing for an improved parking lot.
The parking regulations at present require one space per 175 square feet of floor area in a commercial or service use. The regulations also include a ten-space waiver for the first required ten spaces for all commercial uses in the Silver Lake Commercial Area. This waiver was intended to allow flexibility to potential businesses, but it may be responsible for the present day parking shortage. As discussed in Chapter 2, the effectiveness of the waiver needs to be examined and consideration given to reducing the parking requirements to one per 400 square feet of gross floor area. In-lieu fees should also be considered subject to approval by the Planning Board. Any such fees should be allocated
3-33 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses to the Parking Authority to be used for transportation and parking improvements in Silver Lake.
West Harrison experiences traffic as commuters use Lake Street as a shortcut to get to White Plains from I-684. The speed and the volume of this traffic detract from the pleasant character of West Harrison. West Harrison is located east of the City of White Plains, which is a large city, (population 56,509 in 2000) containing a large commuting workforce. Harrison has excellent road transportation links, in particular I-684, I-287 and the Hutchinson River Parkway. Possible traffic calming measures were identified in Chapter 2.
Cannon Merritt Hill Former Nike Base Forest Lake
3-34 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
3.4 Purchase and the Platinum Mile
3.4.1 Purchase
The neighborhood of Purchase is located north of the Cross-Westchester Expressway and is separated from West Harrison by the Mamaroneck River as far north as Barnes Lane where the boundary is formed by I-684, see Figure 3-12. The central spine of the area is formed by Purchase Street, which is lined with large plot single family homes and country clubs.
Land Uses
This area is mainly residential, but it also contains some significant large land users, including Westchester County Airport, SUNY Manhattanville College, country clubs and large office campuses such as MasterCard and PepsiCo. There are also limited business uses along Anderson Hill Road, including Purchase Deli and the Hilltop Restaurant. With the exception of PepsiCo, the office campuses are located along the Hutchinson River Parkway and Westchester Avenue. These comprise part of the “Platinum Mile” and are discussed in a separate section.
There is a concentration of community services in the area around the Anderson Hill Road and Purchase Street intersection. The library, fire station, post office, Purchase Community House and Elementary School are located in the vicinity. These buildings are all attractive, appearing well maintained. This area provides a good community focus for Purchase.
Purchase does not contain a variety of housing types: the majority consists of single family homes. Anderson Hill Road contains the smaller, more traditionally styled older housing, but in the rest of the area, most houses are large lot single family homes, with varying architectural styles.
There are a number of large, undeveloped or under-utilized properties in Purchase, including the Lehman-Loeb estate, the Sisters of John the Baptist convent, the Kempner Property and the Gache property.
Anderson Hill Road Purchase Library Purchase Elementary School
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: NEW YORK STATE INTERACTIVE MAPPING GATEWAY Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Zoning
The zoning in Purchase is mainly One Family Residence Districts with six levels of density; see Figure 3-13. The lowest density zoning is R-2.5 (minimum lot size of 2.5 acres). This district is located between the Hutchinson River Parkway and I-287. The next lowest is R-2 (2 acre minimum); this comprises the bulk of zoned land in Purchase, and is located east of I-684. The R-1 district (1 acre minimum) is located both south of Anderson Hill Road, and west of I-684. Nearer to Silver Lake there are two higher density districts – R-1/2 (1/2 acre minimum) and R-1/3 (1/3 acre minimum). The highest density zoning district, R-50 (minimum lot size of 5,000 square feet) is located off Anderson Hill Road, along New Street. In general, rural, low-density development is considered most suitable for this area of Harrison.
The large lots in Purchase, containing the office campuses and the airport, are zoned Special Business, SB, ranging from SB-0 and SB-1 which require a minimum lot area of 5 acres, to SB-100 which requires a minimum lot size of 100 acres.
The main area of non-conforming uses is along Anderson Hill Road, where a small amount of neighborhood business uses such as a deli and some restaurants has accumulated.
Neighborhood Character
Purchase is a very attractive, affluent residential area, which has a general impression of open landscape, containing low-density, semi-rural development. Although the house types are broadly similar, the diversity of architectural styles is interesting and adds to the experience of traveling through the area. The character of this area should be maintained, and policies need to be devised to carefully regulate new development and ensure compatibility with existing character.
Harrison’s zoning code provides for a minimum buffer setback of 100 feet to be established along each of the following roadways: Purchase Street, Barnes Lane, Lincoln Avenue, Cottage Avenue and Anderson Hill Road. This means that the front of any new house or structure must be set back at least 100 feet from the edge of the road right-of- way and a permanent open space preservation easement is required by the Planning Board prior to the granting of any building permit for any development abutting any of those streets. In addition to this buffer setback, the zoning code should contain direction on the preservation of mature trees, stone walls and other natural and built features on private property which contribute to the character of the area.
House Type
The six different residential zoning districts in Purchase have given rise to a number of different house types. The smallest are located in the highest density zone - R-50 (5,000 sqft minimum lot), located along New Street. These are traditional single family homes, similar to house types in downtown Harrison. The next highest densities are the R-1/3, R- 1/2 and R-1 zones, which have given rise to similar sized homes as those in the R-50
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B N T R E RD D D V R E D R R R E E L L Y R G G R AV A D D VE AN L I ATT H F R D O B NH R D MA HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-13: ZONING IN PURCHASE 0 2000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
district, except on larger lots. The two lowest density districts, comprising the bulk of the residential zoning districts, R-2 and R-2.5, contain much larger houses, on larger lots.
R-50 - New Street R-1 - Anderson Hill Road R-2 – Purchase Street
House types in Purchase have traditionally been large, but the local community feels that new houses are being built out of character with the surrounding context. While the general character of houses is colonial, suited to the rural setting on large lots, in recent times, house sizes have grown enormously, with some floor areas exceeding 20,000 square feet. In the current highly valued real estate market, new houses are generally built out to the maximum allowed given the zoning code’s required yards (setbacks), maximum building coverage, and height. The use of a Floor Area Ratio or other appropriate similar tools would limit to some degree the bulky houses. This issue is dealt with in this plan as a town-wide planning issue.
Stoneleigh Manor, Lincoln Avenue New house on Purchase Street
Subdivisions
Chapter 2 discussed the possible amendment of the residential cluster subdivision text to allow open space (conservation) subdivisions. With regard to revising the zoning text on perimeter buffers, Purchase has a required 100-foot buffer setback that applies on certain streets. The Town Board should consider increasing this buffer in any new open space subdivision to a distance of perhaps 150 feet from the street. Where a proposed open space subdivision abuts existing residential development, a similar perimeter buffer could be required to ensure that the privacy of existing residences is protected.
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Stone Walls
The old stone walls of Purchase comprise part of its character and need protection. In the main these are traditional dry-stack stone walls, built without the use of mortar. Some new developments have built mortared stone walls as their front property boundary, but the more traditional dry-stack is preferable, as this method is historically correct for Purchase. Stone walls are not regulated in Harrison’s land development ordinance. Most walls lie on private property and were originally laid to define property boundaries and farm fields. When a wall is beyond the owner’s functional fencing, it can become neglected. Some homeowners may not know the historic and aesthetic value of their walls or how to go about rebuilding or repairing them.
Dry-stack stone wall Dry-stack in disrepair Mortared stone wall
Even when a homeowner is familiar with the significance of their walls, rebuilding is expensive. The Town Code should be amended to include old stone walls as items that need to be shown on all site plans and subdivision plats, with the applicant being required to preserve these walls or to rebuild them where they are damaged. Educational materials could also be created for property owners which explain the historical significance, styles, and construction of stone walls, listing reliable local contractors and wall builders, encouraging wall owners to repair their walls as stones fall out, and identifying destructive vegetation (such as vines and bayberry) that should be removed from walls.
Traffic
Traffic is a critical issue in Purchase, particularly along Anderson Hill Road and Purchase Street, which are both minor arterials. Purchase Street is a New York State road, and Anderson Hill Road is a county road. These streets experience traffic from Greenwich to White Plains and The Westchester Mall, in addition to airport traffic. Minor arterials are designed to carry traffic between Harrison and the surrounding towns and villages. Travel along Anderson Hill Road is also made difficult by parking along the street by patrons of the local, non-conforming businesses. While these businesses are well-patronized and clearly provide a necessary service in this part of town, the lack of sufficient parking creates a safety problem.
The Town Board and Planning Board should discourage direct access to arterial roads from adjoining land wherever possible. Separate local roads should be required in those
3-40 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses cases where access cannot be obtained from intersecting side roads. The width of the pavement of the arterial should be sufficient to permit the movement of traffic in both directions. On-street parking should be discouraged along arterials.
As discussed in Chapter 2, NYSDOT is currently undertaking a phased reconstruction of the I-287 corridor. The reconstruction includes rehabilitating the existing six-lane roadway, eliminating choke points and making safety improvements along the corridor, including the rehabilitation or replacement of more than 30 bridges, including the Anderson Hill Road bridge.
The 1988 Master Plan addressed preserving the overall rural character along Purchase Street; this remains relevant. Some of the older roads in Purchase are lined by stone walls, mature trees and other natural and built features, which provide interest and comprise part of the identity of the area. Road improvements and widening are leading to the disappearance of these features, which should be preserved.
Going forward, the traffic problems in Purchase can only be expected to intensify, especially given the development potential of the undeveloped properties off Anderson Hill Road. The 1972 Master Plan showed a connection between Manhattanville Road and Corporate Park Drive, which would connect Purchase Street to Westchester Avenue. This has not happened to date, but this linkage should still be considered.
A number of the recommendations of the 1988 Update relating to traffic remain relevant. These are 1) access to new commercial development should be from existing office parks, 2) curb cuts should be avoided along Anderson Hill Road, Lincoln Avenue, and Purchase Street, and 3) driveways for commercial development should be combined for adjacent parcels.
Traffic studies are necessary along Anderson Hill Road and Purchase Street to devise solutions to the issues. Key intersections that have turning delays and congestion are:
Manhattanville Road and Purchase Street Purchase Street and Anderson Hill Road Lincoln Avenue and Purchase Street Anderson Hill Road and Westchester Avenue Barnes Lane and Lake Street
The use of traffic calming could be considered to discourage through traffic, as discussed in Chapter 2. One possible solution for the Anderson Hill Road and Purchase Street intersection could be the construction of a roundabout.
Open Space
Although there is a high provision of private open space in Purchase, including country clubs, SUNY and the PepsiCo Sculpture Garden, there is insufficient public open space. The only park is located at the Purchase Community House, but this has restricted access. The various educational institutions also have associated open space and recreational facilities. The Donald M. Kendall Sculpture garden located on the grounds of PepsiCo is
3-41 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
an excellent cultural resource offering sculpture in 144 landscaped acres, but unfortunately access has been increasingly restricted post 9/11.
Purchase Community House PepsiCo Sculpture Garden Andy Goldsworthy sculpture on
SUNY grounds
Purchase Community House is a non-profit organization, which provides recreational and enrichment programs for the residents of Purchase and surrounding communities. They offer pre-school and after-school programs during the school year, and a seven-week day camp for ages 3 to 13 and an outdoor family pool program in the summer.
The town does not own any open space in Purchase, and with increasing development and land values, the purchase of public open space will become more difficult. This issue needs to be addressed to provide both for the existing and future needs of the residents of Purchase, and to sustain the area’s rural quality. The options for this are dealt with as a town-wide issue in Chapter 2.
Manhattanville College and SUNY Purchase
These two colleges make a valued contribution to the cultural life of the community. Continued and enhanced co-operation with them is imperative.
State University of New York (SUNY) SUNY was opened in 1972 with the intention of combining conservatory training in the visual and performing arts with liberal arts and sciences programs on one campus. Set over 400 acres, the college has a projected enrollment figure of 4,057 by 2010, which would entail reversing its current declining enrollment. The college also contains the Neuberger Museum of Art and the Performing Arts Center which are valuable cultural institutions in the town.
SUNY SUNY is at present pursuing an active development program, including the construction of a Student Services Building, and a new 300-bed residence hall centered on a courtyard with space for college retail outlets. Development at SUNY is permitted by the state, not the town, although it obviously has an impact on Harrison, and is facilitated by the town in terms of services such as water and sewer. The town is an ‘involved agent’ pursuant to SEQR and therefore gets informed about any development.
3-42 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Manhattanville College The college intends constructing a Center for the Creative Arts, which will be the first new building to be added to the campus since 1965. The college takes a proactive approach to environmental conservation, and was awarded the National Wildlife Federation's Campus Ecology Recognition Award for 2004-2005. The college is restoring its Lady Chapel, and is constructing an on-site water treatment system (a Living Machine) which will purify water from an on-site stream through natural biological processes. The town should encourage any conservation and innovative environmental efforts by the college. The appointment of a town employee as a liaison officer would assist in the fostering of co-operation and information exchange. Such an approach could applied to SUNY as well.
Large Private Clubs, Estates, and Undeveloped Tracts
As discussed in Chapter 2, the many country clubs in Purchase comprise an important resource for the town in the form of large green vistas and visual breathing room. There is no guarantee, however that these clubs will remain forever as private recreation. The development potential of these properties is significant. Strategies need to be devised to deal with the possibility of their redevelopment. These might include creating a recreation district and open- space subdivision criteria for the provision of Old Oaks Country Club open space in the zoning code.
Some estates remain in Harrison, and the development of any or all of these would have significant impacts. The Lehman-Loeb estate, the Sisters of John the Baptist convent, the Kempner property and the Gache property have development potential. The large tracts of undeveloped land in Harrison are identified in Figure 3-14. These properties have significant development potential, comprising almost 189 acres of land, and would result in the development of approximately 161 homes under the current zoning, as can be seen from Table 3-1.
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Table 3-1: Development Potential in Purchase
Owner Portion Area Zoning Gross Development (acres) Potential at existing zoning (d.u.)* Gache A 21.2 R-1 21 B 14.3 R-2 7 C 20.5 R-2 10 D 13.6 R-2 6 Gache total 69.6 44 Lehman-Loeb A 56.4 R-1 56 B 15.6 R-1 15 C 11.9 R-1 11 Lehman-Loeb total 83.9 82 Sisters of John the Baptist Convent 11.4 R-1 11 Church of Latter Day Saints 24 R-1 24 Total 188.9 161 * This gross amount does not take account of any environmentally constrained land on site.
3-44 Legend Under-developed land Office/ Special Business Educational Private Recreation Town/ Institutional Property Critical Environmental Area ST D AR H RC O D LR IL H N IA DPW D Rye Lake IN N H E
O W
P R A RD T K Westchester County Airport ND R O A I OCKL N R K N LN N G 60 LDN Noise Contour CEA C L
T R S E T E D T D S R C E NE T BUR E I STONEW H A DG W LL CI I O Westchester R L
K DM
A County Airport
O IL N N L L
RD P R T U
Y L Y S Purchase Friends
E E K KE R L A C
L L A D
H E A D Meeting House U W L
A H O Q S
S ON S
C E
T ST B UC KO WINDSOR CT UT RD T C E S N T EY LN O OAK VALL PI N RY Y O H ST E K N ILL K IC LA A C H RD D B L OX R O Gache F BARN D ES LN R OLIA D MAGN
Silver Lake N L R R Country Club Park CEA D A N D R E D C of Purchase R U B I N V E E T A G RA E E D R I B T S G S R E T SUNY K A TA H P T A Brae Burn T PINE I VIEW L E CI G N O JE I F 6 C E F H 8 ERS H Golf Club 4 V O U N A H AV S R S Purchase S T Y U T B RG V V D M O A Library & A R V B U S K A L R N N A A Old Oaks R O I P Community V C A R A G RM E D Country Club L House OVE H H T L I A S N D Century RR I H I Y S O C DR W R O P LS BOR E IL R E N S Country Club E H A ILL RD M S S N AS NH D A T E RCH ERSO IN R T U AND N N S P T P U L E U Y I C R PO W N Y Purchase Fire C S D R O T AV R D I I D Y D R House L R G N R R C K E PepsiCo U E Elementary R AV A I CT A R Y M M XB C EVERL P B D Y B U T H L School IGH D T CO EN S D VEN T L TR LO L Y CT LINDE C CO C N DR G US O T AV S Lehman-Loeb A Manhattanville LODEN LN Verizon College Convent EDGEWOOD LN N LN LINCOL
D R E USPS L IL K V ERP Platinum Mile N Mastercard IV TA ONR T NS A HI W TC H HU E N S A T C M H P N E R L
S I W T V O D E A AD R R T E H Manhattanville Road E A M G V RD I potential linkage to E RL R Morgan- E Westchester Avenue E T D S O E A Stanley KL W N
C R O S S W E S Church of Latter Day Saints TC H R E D S D LN E T WOO G E IRON ED R KL E OC X R W
D EB R RD B A H AN T LN RIT V R U H P H RD O T T R OU W PLYM V L O A I AN R M ILW W N T D BO E N LLY PARK R E R O K K P E G
B R
M I
I
HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-14: SIGNIFICANT PROPERTIES 0 2000 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
3.4.2 Platinum Mile
Westchester’s ‘Platinum Mile’ of corporate office complexes runs through Harrison along I-287, and connects Harrison to the growing office presence along Connecticut’s “Gold Coast” in Greenwich and Stamford to the east, and also to those in White Plains and Tarrytown to the west. Large companies here include MasterCard, Morgan Stanley, and Verizon and the United States Postal Service. One significant development since the 1988 Master Plan Update was Hitachi vacating its site at 2400 Westchester Avenue and the subsequent rezoning of that site to residential use, developed now as the Knightsbridge Manor subdivision. This occurred during a prolonged downturn in the office market. Any further rezoning in this area should be carefully evaluated.
The town recognizes the importance of commercial office complexes to the town, not just in terms of tax revenue, but also in terms of their contribution to the town in other ways, such as corporate sponsorship and the cultural contributions of the PepsiCo Sculpture Gardens. The town wishes to ensure the retention and attraction of its corporations, and this requires updating the use and dimensional requirements in the SB districts.
At present, day-care centers are only permitted by Special Exception use in the SB-O district. Health maintenance, rehabilitation and fitness centers are permitted by Special Exception use in all SB districts. Restaurants are not permitted. Allowing for ancillary uses that support the office needs to be adopted for the SB districts, with the purpose of retaining office complexes in the town.
The parking requirements are one per 200 square feet of floor area, except that a proprietary executive headquarters office building in an SB-35 or SB-100 District shall have whichever is the greater requirement; one per 350 square feet or 0.9 per each employee on site at any one time. As discussed in Chapter 2, consideration should be given to reducing these requirements and removing the method of calculating requirements per employee for headquarters buildings.
Harrison Executive Park Morgan Stanley
3-46 OVE PTON RD R RD O N HAM D RMOUTH TRY N YA C CT DE S LIN
L
I
N
C
O
L G LODENLN N CROSSIN THE A
Verizon V
Y H 4 Dez Corporatio8n USPS 6 LN TE N A Purchase LINCOL ST R TE Corporate Park IN D USPS R E L Mastercard IL V N R A N D T ET T Treeline WL NN A O G
D W MANHA A E E S ER M T C ER H DR ER E RK P S PA RIV S T ER TE P TAR K D E RA U FARM R PO P R R R A R D O C A C R T H
E H V G VE AS I ER R I E R D E L R S N E T T
O S E SYLVANLEIGH RD
NS W RE I D H O AK L C T Morgan
N U H Stanley R O N Legend MA E Dez Corporation G ID Possible Manhattanville BR TS H G Road Linkage M I IT KN W TM E ER Eastridge Properties A S N TC R H D E Office complex S DR TE D LN E R NWOO G A IRO IEW ED V K V KL O C BRO ROC R O W S E S B PI WE B LG A RI S V M RD T RD N C TA H N RI E U RD S HL P TH T T OU ER R PLYM O E ILW X HARRISON COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2006 FIGURE 3-15: PLATINUM MILE 0 1500 ft
WESTCHESTER COUNTY SOURCE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY GIS Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 3: Neighborhood Analyses
Stormwater
Office campuses can contain huge amounts of impervious surfaces and can contribute enormously to stormwater flows. As discussed in Chapter 2, Harrison is now subject to federal EPA regulations on the management of stormwater flows, known as Phase II requirements. New York State has laid down the method by which each town is to comply with these under the State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) program. This requires that the town address the problem of non-agricultural source stormwater runoff. One of the major contributors to stormwater is impervious surfaces, such as the large parking lots necessary for office complexes. An impervious surface is one that is resistant to penetration by moisture, and includes but is not limited to, paving, concrete, asphalt and roofs. Impervious surfaces affect water quantity by diverting subsurface flow to surface runoff, often resulting in increased flooding and stream bank erosion. Impervious surfaces also affect water quality by accumulating and conveying polluted runoff to surface waters. Runoff from residential rooftops usually drains to lawns that promote infiltration, reduce runoff rates and filter pollutants. In contrast runoff from roads, parking lots and commercial/industrial rooftops often drains directly to stormwater sewers and is not naturally filtered by soil and vegetation. The general goal is to limit the amount of this type of impervious surface area, and to retain and treat stormwater on site.
The regulations for the SB zoning districts should be examined to study various means of placing greater emphasis on stormwater management. This could include requirements that parking area drainage should be designed such that all surface runoff (both piped and overland flow) is conveyed through a vegetated swale, vegetated filter strip, created wetlands, rain gardens, detention basins with bio-filtration prior or other similar facility to discharge into existing wetlands, streams, ponds, or other waterbodies. In addition, landscaping requirements, which also benefit stormwater management, could be strengthened. Reference should be made in the zoning text to Best Management Practices as illustrated in the New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual. As parking constitutes such a large proportion of impervious surfaces, consideration should also be given to adjusting the off-street parking requirements in light of new ideas such as landbanking or landscaping; the setting aside of landscape reserves that can be converted to parking if shortages arise. The use of porous surfaces should also be considered as an alternative to impervious ones.
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Chapter 4: Plan Concepts and Future Land Use Plan
Following both the town-wide and neighborhood analyses, this chapter now turns to the future plan for Harrison. The Comprehensive Plan guides Harrison in its accomplishment of shared goals for future development. This plan does not in itself change zoning or assure implementation of plan recommendations. A community is developed over the years by hundreds of individual and group decisions. This plan is designed to educate those who plan to develop their property and the various boards that oversee such development.
This final chapter consists of four elements. First, the planning concepts for Harrison which combine the goal and vision of the community in regard to each topic are presented. The second element is a summary based upon the detailed discussion of existing conditions, issues and recommendations made in the foregoing chapters. This summary takes the form of a future land use plan which will guide future development. Third, there is a summary of all recommendations made in the plan. Finally, implementation measures and first priorities are outlined.
4.1 Plan Concepts This section is the bridge between the description of Harrison’s current context and concerns and the future land use plan in the next section. Here, the plan presents the planning concepts for town-wide land uses and for specific areas. The planning concepts combine the goal and vision of the community in regard to each topic or area.
4.1.1 Town-wide Concepts
Residential Development
Harrison’s residential zoning controls preserve qualities important to residents and promote sufficient housing choice to meet market demand for the most part. Certain modifications are needed to improve housing choice in a targeted way and to improve the end result of development controls.
Environment and Open Space
Harrison respects environmentally sensitive areas, reducing hazards to property and preserving the scenic qualities of the community. Going forward, the town will upgrade and expand open space and recreational facilities to enhance their function and appearance. The town will seek to preserve open space when large scale residential development is proposed through the required open space set aside, and through the use of cluster (open space) subdivision, where appropriate. Further, Harrison recognizes the significance of private recreation here, such as the golf courses. The town will ensure that the open landscape qualities so key to the town’s beauty and serenity are preserved.
4-1 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 4: Plan Concepts & Future Land Use Plan
Transportation and Parking
Harrison will continue to promote and, when found to be feasible and appropriate, to provide transportation improvements, and parking facilities to serve the town’s population, and which are compatible with the town’s character.
4.1.2 Downtown Central Business District Concepts
Harrison will continue to promote development of an attractive and appealing downtown CBD which has a distinctive character and which achieves a high standard of pedestrian and urban amenities.
Harrison will encourage economic development and vitality in the downtown CBD.
Harrison will create a comprehensive, orderly parking management system that balances the demand for long and short term parking in the downtown CBD.
Harrison will provide community and recreational facilities and services which contribute to the overall improvement of the community, such as the renovation of the historic train station as a new court and town meeting facility.
4.1.3 Downtown Harrison Concepts
Harrison recognizes the need to preserve and enhance the existing neighborhoods in downtown Harrison as the foundation of a strong community.
Harrison will preserve the quiet, safe nature of neighborhood streets in downtown.
4.1.4 West Harrison Concepts
Harrison will enhance the identity, appearance and vitality of West Harrison’s commercial core for the benefit of residents and business owners alike.
Harrison will encourage an accessible and pedestrian-friendly commercial core.
Harrison will endeavor to maintain natural resources in a sustainable manner to provide maximum benefit to the environment and to residents.
Harrison will improve the quality and range of community and recreational facilities in West Harrison.
4-2 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 4: Plan Concepts & Future Land Use Plan
4.1.5 Purchase and Platinum Mile Concepts
Harrison will preserve the existing low-density, open and rural character of Purchase and ensure any future development respects this character.
Harrison will endeavor to facilitate the correction of existing traffic conflicts and congested intersections, and minimize conflicts potentially generated by future developments.
Harrison will encourage any development of former estates or on any undeveloped land to respect existing neighborhoods and add to the quality of life in the area.
Harrison will continue to seek cooperation between the colleges and the Town/Village of Harrison, to protect the interests of residents.
Harrison is committed to sustaining the important tax base created by corporate office development.
4.2 Future Land Use Plan
The future land use plan presented in this chapter will guide future development. It is both a map and accompanying text describing the town’s general land use categories and areas of specific recommendations. The plan recognizes the established settlement pattern, transportation infrastructure, natural features, and opportunities for new development. Thus, the future land use plan attempts to reconcile community goals for conservation and development, environmental constraints on development, and existing infrastructure.
The major recommendations of this plan are shown on the Future Land Use Map. (See Figure 4.1). The map can be considered a visual representation of an ideal form for Harrison. Figure 4.1 shows Harrison at maturity, with all land committed to either development, road networks, dedicated open space, or public land uses such as parks and schools, and built out according to plan recommendations. The map’s purpose is to support Harrison’s official zoning map, other official town maps, such as wetlands and watercourses and others that may be created, and the maps contained within this plan. These maps – downtown plan, and the environmental constraints map among others – should be referred to in conjunction with the future land use map, in order to understand the potential future development or conservation of a particular lot. Site-specific development plans should use GIS technology where possible in order to show clearly the approving board the proposed subdivision or site plan.
This section is a summary based upon the detailed discussion of existing conditions, issues and recommendations made in the foregoing chapters. The land use planning summary presented here is thus best understood when read alongside, and not as a substitute for, the bulk of the plan.
The following criteria were relied upon in drawing up the future land use plan:
4-3 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 4: Plan Concepts & Future Land Use Plan
Land Uses. The land use plan is generally consistent with existing development. Dramatic changes in existing land uses are not proposed, as the overall settlement pattern is one that Harrison property owners are satisfied with and wish to see continued. Also, there is no public interest served in making large groups of houses and businesses non- conforming under zoning. Thus, areas that are stable or not in need of change are preserved.
Zoning and Development Pressures. The plan has sought to consider changes in zoning only in circumstances where a reasonable argument for change, supported by the community planning concepts and planning analysis, can be made. The plan supports most of Harrison’s existing zoning as it allows homes where people wish to live and at varying densities, and businesses where these are best located. With respect to zoning, there are a few areas where the plan recommends that rezonings be considered to improve controls on development. The following options should be the subject of further study and evaluation:
Consider rezoning the non-conforming industrial area in downtown east of Oakland Avenue from the B district to a viable residential district. Introduce an overlay district or special purpose/recreation district for the country clubs in the town. Evaluate the creation of a new townhouse zoning district.
Environmental Considerations. There are a number of natural resources requiring protection: steep slopes, wetlands, watercourses, ponds, and Kenisco Reservoir. Harrison already controls development that might harm any of these resources, as does the New York City Department of Environmental Protection through its Watershed Regulations. This plan recommends reviewing the town’s residential cluster subdivision regulations, in the interests of revising these regulations more clearly create permanently preserved open space. Such open space may be habitat or environmentally sensitive land. This change would lead to greater protection of environmental resources in future large-scale development.
Infrastructure. Access from adequate roads and proximity to existing or potential water and sewer utilities are two factors defining the capacity of land to accommodate different types and densities of development. Some areas of Harrison remain un-sewered, but as new subdivisions are developed, the town is committed to providing the necessary extensions. No changes are proposed to the overall road network, but some improvements at the Anderson Hill Road/Purchase Street intersection and traffic calming measures elsewhere in the town, should be considered.
4.3 Future Land Use Plan Elements
The future land use plan is shown in Figure 4.1. There are six basic elements to this. These are:
Underlying lots and road network
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Residential land uses Commercial, retail and office uses Industrial uses Institutional/ community uses Parks, recreation (public and private) and open space
The generalized land uses are shown using traditional land use colors. The lighter shade of each color indicates less development density; as the shade darkens, development density increases. This map is not a substitute for and does not supersede Harrison’s official zoning map.
Land Use Color Residential (three categories) Yellow Commercial Red Office Pink Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (two Green categories – public and private) Airport Deep Pink Waterbodies Light Blue Institutional and Community Blue
a) Residential Land Use
The land use plan shows a range of housing densities, Harrison’s primary land use. In general respects the plan is based on existing zoning and settlement, but groups residential development land into three different levels of density. It should be understood that this category does not exclude uses that are typically found embedded in residential areas, such as schools, places of worship, cemeteries, private foundations, and occasional small, stand-alone businesses. These other uses are normally seen as compatible with dwellings in overwhelmingly residential areas, and even as necessary to the proper functioning of such areas.
Low density: This corresponds to the R-2.5, R-2, and R-1 zones or a range of density from one housing unit per two and a half acres to one per acre. These land use densities are representative of the predominantly single-family home character of Harrison.
Moderate density: This corresponds to the single-family zones of R-1/2, R-1/3, R-75, and R-50. The densities here range from one house per half-acre to 5,000 square feet.
Medium high density: This category corresponds to the town’s B – Two Family, GA – Garden Apartment and MF – Multi-Family zoning districts. These districts are mapped in the downtown and in Silver Lake. New development in the medium high density areas will mostly be scattered on infill lots, making it imperative that the new houses conform to the immediately surrounding scale and architecture.
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The plan contains a number of recommendations in relation to residential area controls including introducing bulk reduction techniques (such as, but not limited to a floor area ratio), a landscaping ordinance, and a review of the cluster subdivision text.
b) Commercial Land Use
These areas are shown on the map in red and a red hatch line.
Downtown and Silver Lake: The Plan recognizes the existing commercial areas and makes recommendations to reinforce these. The primary ones are the downtown and Silver Lake. In both centers there are opportunities for improvements and the Future Land Use Plan identifies such locations.
One location in existing commercial use for which the plan recommends consideration of change is the Lake Street quarry. The replacement of the existing use with a more compatible and appropriate use should be considered here. c) Office Uses
The Plan shows office uses in pink. Major office development is grouped along Westchester Avenue, known as the Platinum Mile. Harrison can continue to enhance opportunities for economic development by adopting a more flexible approach to accommodate accessory uses in this district, and reviewing the on-site parking requirements. No change to the extent of the Special Business Districts is envisioned. d) Institutional and Community Uses
These areas, shown in blue on the Future Land Use Plan, correspond to existing land uses. There is a possibility that a new site for a school will be required in the future, but no potential site is indicated on the plan. Rather, the general consideration must be the appropriate siting of any new school in close proximity to the population it serves. The town should work closely with the school district in the consideration of any site. e) Parks, Recreation and Open Space
The Future Land Use Plan shows the largest of the existing parcels in Harrison dedicated to public park use, watershed protection and highway rights-of-way. The watershed reservation lands owned by New York City, which act as a buffer to Kenisco Reservoir, will not be developed. The plan recommends that Harrison work with NYCDEP to increase opportunities for recreation on these lands.
No undeveloped town-owned land earmarked for recreation should be sold or used for any purpose other than a public or institutional use. Both Passidomo Park and Veterans Memorial Park are earmarked for expansion and/or improvements, therefore they are indicated on the map.
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The map also shows the possibility of creating an overlay or special purpose/recreation district to cover the country clubs in the town. The recommendation in the plan is to consider the use of such a district.
4.4 Summary of Plan Recommendations
The following is a summary of all recommendations made in this plan. Following this, Section 4.8 discusses those recommendations that should be first priority actions for the town.
Town-wide Recommendations
Residential Controls
Consider bulk reduction techniques such as, but not limited to, the creation of residential floor area ratio provisions to limit oversized dwellings. Introduce a Landscaping Ordinance to the town’s code which lays down minimum requirements for landscaping in any new development. Determine if the community wants the creation of different types of housing in selected areas such as: o Senior housing (age-restricted housing) o Townhouses Review the B-district (Two-family zone) to evaluate problems and identify potential solutions for the district. Investigate the possibility of sunsetting the unbuilt portions of existing approvals/subdivision plats so that they must be re-approved in conformance with any code updates.
Environment and Open Space
Review the code’s residential cluster subdivision regulations. Set up a Recreation Committee, to make recommendations for recreation. Work with NYCDEP to improve the recreational opportunities in watershed lands adjacent to Kensico Reservoir. Consider the use of a conservation overlay district on the golf courses and examine various options such as the right of first refusal, or the acquisition of conservation easements. Incorporate Phase II Stormwater regulations into site plan and subdivision requirements. Study possible methods for improving water quality in all waterbodies in the town. Examine methods of controlling the town’s geese and deer populations.
4-7 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 4: Plan Concepts & Future Land Use Plan
Transportation and Parking
Study the Anderson Hill Road intersection with Purchase Street with a view to implementing intersection improvements. Study methods for access management (curb cut consolidation and limits) on arterials and collectors. Evaluate the effectiveness of the ten space waiver in the town’s parking regulations. Consider reducing the requirement for retail store or service establishments to 1 space per 200 square feet of gross floor area, except in the downtown CBD and in Silver Lake. Consider reducing the requirement for offices to 1 space per 300 square feet of gross floor area, except that a proprietary executive headquarters office building shall have a requirement of 1 space per 350 square feet of gross floor area.
Downtown Central Business District
Pedestrian Environment: Promote a comfortable, safe, interesting and visually attractive pedestrian environment. Design: Encourage good design for new commercial development, and major renovations through adopting design, landscaping and streetscaping guidelines or form-based coding. Accessibility: Encourage, promote and improve accessibility for persons with disabilities. Unique Downtown Features: Promote and enhance unique features such as the historic train station and parks as part of the various redevelopment projects. Encourage retail and allow a mix of uses: Promote a diverse base of retail establishments, while allowing offices, services and housing. Consider rezoning the development of underutilized property, particularly the industrial area on Oakland Avenue, possibly by allowing for increased residential density in the area. Public-Private Projects: Pursue the Metro-North development project and development of their 3.3 acre site to create a second street wall of stores, a new park and new community facilities, using good downtown urban design principles. Allow off-site parking and shared parking subject to approval by the Planning Board. Shared parking calculations need to be provided as per Institute Transportation Engineers (ITE) or Urban Land Institute (ULI) guidelines. Evaluate a possible merchant permitting parking scheme for the CBD. Consider in-lieu parking fees subject to approval by the Planning Board. Any such fees should be allocated to the Parking Authority, to be used for transportation and parking improvements in the downtown area. Consider reducing the parking requirements for retail store or retail service establishment to 1 space per 400 square feet of gross floor area in the downtown CBD. Consider reducing the parking requirements for office uses in the downtown CBD to 1 per 330 square feet of floor area. Enforce parking bylaws to ensure that short term parking stalls are utilized efficiently and effectively. Evaluate the Sollazzo Center and provide a quality recreational facility in the downtown.
4-8 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 4: Plan Concepts & Future Land Use Plan
Downtown Harrison
Continue to provide code enforcement of all residential properties and enhance if and when feasible. Consider the promotion of neighborhood enhancement programs and strategies such as preservation of mature trees, street tree plantings, neighborhood gardens, and sidewalk improvements. Examine the potential for traffic calming measures as a method of discouraging through traffic.
West Harrison
Maintain a bright line on the extent of commercial uses so that there is no creep into residential areas. Encourage the re-development of Lake Street quarry to a compatible and viable use. Examine the creation of two gateways (arriving north from airport on Lake Street; arriving on Westchester Avenue) to demarcate and consolidate the identity of the core. Study the possibility of applying Downtown Design District guidelines/mandates to West Harrison. Ensure the enforcement system for parking in West Harrison is effective. Examine a parking permitting system for local residents and restrict non-resident use of parking spaces. Consider a reduction in the parking requirements for retail store or retail service establishment to 1 space per 400 square feet of gross floor area for any conforming retail use. Consider the introduction of traffic calming measures to discourage through traffic on local streets. Examine the possibility of working with the City of White Plains and the county to improve water quality and aesthetics of Silver Lake. Examine possible measures to reduce eutrophication in Silver Lake. Study methods of increasing public awareness and education in relation to the Critical Environmental Areas and the preservation of all remaining environmental features, particularly in regard to watershed protection. Evaluate the future of the Mintzner Center in light of the improvements to Passidomo Park and the associated recreational facilities. Build a recreation center in Passidomo Park.
Purchase and Platinum Mile
Retain low densities of development and consider promoting cluster subdivision development in line with any revised subdivision text, where appropriate. Retain mature trees, stone walls, and other natural and built features which contribute to the character of the area. Study the possibility of creating a linkage between Manhattanville Road and Westchester Avenue. Study key intersections to devise appropriate solutions.
4-9 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 4: Plan Concepts & Future Land Use Plan
Retain existing roadway classification; correct bottlenecks where possible. Limit curb cuts along Anderson Hill Road, Lincoln Avenue, and Purchase Street. Require that driveways should be combined for adjacent commercial parcels. Require that access to new commercial development should be from existing office parks. Study methods of identifying desirable land or habitat on properties for eventual dedication as permanent open space if subdivided. Require a landscape buffer around all large tracts of undeveloped/underdeveloped land being subdivided. Consider appointing town employees as liaison officers for Manhattanville College and SUNY. Allow commercial campuses to have accessory uses, such as health clubs, child care food-related uses, and other ancillary uses. Study the effectiveness of existing off-street parking requirements in the SB districts. a. Consider reducing the parking requirements for offices to 1 space per 300 square feet of floor area. b. For proprietary executive headquarters office buildings, maintain the requirement at 1 per 350 square feet of floor area but consider removing the alternative requirement of 0.9 spaces per each employee on site at any one time. c. Enable the Planning Board to waive a percentage of required parking spaces for specific uses with low parking demand. d. Distinguish between long-term and short-term parking spaces in large parking areas, differentiated by stall size and location (proximity to building). e. Consider requiring long-term and short-term parking spaces in large parking areas, differentiated by stall size and location (proximity to building). Study methods for reducing the negative effects of impervious surfaces on stormwater management in the SB district.
4.5 Implementation and First Priorities
This section synopsizes the implementation measures recommended throughout the plan. Having an adopted plan is a critical public policy tool, but it is not sufficient to make change or preservation happen – the plan must be realized. There are four critical methods that Harrison will follow to ensure that this plan, through its recommended actions, is implemented:
• Legislation: Zoning and subdivision regulations are the two most familiar tools used to implement a plan. The town board/board of trustees may need to amend the zoning chapter and subdivision chapter of the Town/Village Code.
• Capital Programming: The second key tool is the capital improvement program (the CIP). The ways that Harrison spends public revenue for public improvements – on water and sewer utilities, road construction, major equipment purchase, a senior center, a library, a new government building, new or renovated parks and recreational facilities – and the standards to which they are built have a major
4-10 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 4: Plan Concepts & Future Land Use Plan
effect on the town’s image and function. Once the comprehensive plan is adopted, Harrison should evaluate and choose capital projects based on plan recommendations.
Harrison’s CIP is a management and fiscal planning tool. The capital budget systematically assigns priorities to the town’s capital needs and schedules their accomplishment through the expenditures of public funds from town revenues and bonding capacity. Projects are scheduled on a multi-year basis, with each succeeding year seeing the completion of a project, or a phase of a long-range project, and a future year is added. New projects come on line as others earlier in the cycle reach completion. The rolling approach enables municipal government to plan for and remain current with necessary infrastructure improvements and other large, non-operational needs. Capital needs remain in balance with available financing; the town achieves aspects of its long-range plan with steady, predictable steps over time.
The process of preparing the capital budget, the resulting document (capital program), and, of course, the improvements themselves are important tools in implementing the comprehensive plan. Such a program is indispensable for a sustained capital improvement effort. It allows for a continuous update on municipal needs without allowing the revision process to stall the planning and scheduling, and without being sidetracked into unnecessary and poorly planned project. The town knows its capital commitments for at least five years into the future. Thus, it can plan financing in an orderly way and stabilize the tax rate structure by spreading improvement costs systematically over a period of years. In this way, the CIP provides the infrastructure and facilities required by the comprehensive plan’s goals. Further, public input into the planning process continues, long past the plan’s adoption, as capital budgets are heard publicly. The orderly public expenditures on needed improvements send a positive signal to private businesses and property owners: the CIP enables them to plan their investment knowing that the town is also responsibly planning.
• Future Studies and Ad-Hoc Committees: Certain plan recommendations will require more analysis. Detailed implementation measures can only be crafted through this. For example, the plan recommends that Harrison have a Recreation Committee and Open Space Committee. Similarly, Harrison should consider constituting a committee to work with consultants on creating design guidelines and mandates for the downtown and Silver Lake.
• Continuing Planning: There are two key aspects to continuing planning. The first is the town/village government’s sustained work with regional agencies, authorities, and other municipalities on issues that extend across borders. These include (and are not limited to) County Airport oversight, Metro-North, and NYS DOT. As these entities plan, Harrison makes clear its concerns and preferences. With an adopted comprehensive plan, Harrison’s position is in effect on record and must be taken into consideration.
The second aspect concerns development applications before the Planning Board and Town Board/Board of Trustees. In all likelihood, most site plan and
4-11 Harrison Comprehensive Plan 2006 DRAFT Chapter 4: Plan Concepts & Future Land Use Plan
subdivision applications conform to existing land development regulations. For these, the Planning Board exercises careful oversight to get the best possible outcome for the town, but is not required to make a policy decision. In other cases, a requested zone change may necessitate just such a policy choice. The boards look to the adopted comprehensive plan for guidance: does the plan anticipate a zoning change, or open space preservation, or the creation of a new community facility? The plan can also aid business recruitment and commercial building renovations, through its discussion of the downtown and the Silver Lake commercial core planning concepts.
First Priorities
A necessary first step in putting the Comprehensive Plan to work for Harrison is its adoption as official town policy by the Town Board. Certain recommendations are first priority and should be accomplished within the next year to eighteen months. Other mid- term and long-term recommendations require advance planning. Many of the plan’s recommendations are preliminary: they require that Harrison study a problem and its solutions in depth before a final recommendation can be pursued. This plan cannot anticipate all new needs for continuing planning; Harrison can expect that new problems or opportunities will arise before the next comprehensive plan is written. The Town Board, the Planning Board, the town’s other boards and advisory groups, and its informed and active citizens will ensure that planning for Harrison continues.
Based on this plan’s recommendations, the first priority study topics or actions should be:
Decide on an approach to preserving open space. Such approaches include: o Reviewing the town’s cluster subdivision text o Considering the use of an Overlay/ Special Purpose/Recreation District
Consider a residential development bulk reduction technique to limit oversized dwellings.
Set up a Recreation Committee, to make recommendations on recreation programs and facilities.
Evaluate applying Downtown Design District guidelines for the downtown Central Business District and for Silver Lake.
Start the process of redeveloping the Metro-North property in the downtown into a mixed use development.
Evaluate the zoning for the Special Business Districts to make parking standards more flexible and allow for accessory uses.
4-12 Figure 4.1 Future Land Use Plan DPW site and Recreational use Town of Harrison, New York ¯ Legend 0 3,000 Feet Residential Medium High Density
D R L Residential Moderate Density IL H N IA D Residential Low Density IN N E P
A W
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K K Office I
L N
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T Commercial
Public Open Space/ Recreation
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R STON C Institutional/ Community E H WALL CI A
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S S Airport E T K A L Private Recreation/ Open Space GO LDEN PON D RD Waterbody
BAR T NES S LN Possible Overlay/ Recreation District
E IA DR K NOL A AG L M Recommendation in Plan D L Quarry - Possible O I N redevelopment T E V R A S E T A G T A E T T 6
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V H Y A K R A P
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N T ILL RD U N H AIN ST DERSO M R AN Y
V A R I S D D U R G B Y E M R R U L U D B DR O X INDEN C U L D NG SSI RO N C L HE T N L O C IN L
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E N S O Design Guidelines for K T D A C P
A V H R downtown Silver Lake E E E S V M T I R E R N A
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D W R E B H B T A R V O W L I PARK RD N OLLY E P K
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R K LA K D ES R ID E GREEN D Downtown Legend WAY RD R Create Design Guidelines for CBD N O RT H ST Consider introducing Form-based Zoning
Mixed Use Development with Parking N L
T E RD S STERLING Consider rezoning to MFR
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AV U
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S I L V AV P R R A 0750 EBSTE ER N B W N AR N O R A A S
H D R T T E Feet A A M V E V M W G A I
A E A E U ID
M S Y S P Y T A L N A UN C IO N S R N U A S M T V ON A S PL O AN C E EM Y U N C EI H R T
K H D
A R T V T S V D R LVE A CA T V ST N A MPLE TE A R D B L R G H O E T I H PL F A R D D A HE N RC I N W V R A V R A A A W A L I D S AV Y A D O G AD E STE T N N L N HA LS A E A L V A K H A W V A E R P O N M U AR R LO IO D Y F Y I N TA R S A S T V T S T
O D AK A VE S N T V P A O K RT R S PA T
Sources: Westchester County GIS, Town of Harrison, BFJ Planning